Secretly Crazy for You
by SoylentRamen
Summary: Shigaraki has his own reasons for appearing before Kohina when she's playing "Kokkuri-san." Will he be able to tell anyone else what those reasons are? Kokkuri/Shigaraki, because the world needs more KokkuRaki fanfic.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** I do not own any part of _Gugure! Kokkuri-san_, and I am making no profit from this story. If you thought that I was, then you are a strange and silly person.

For now, this story will loosely follow the events of the anime. That said, I may take artistic license from time to time.

The title of the story is taken from the song _Crazy for You_ by Scars on 45. If you haven't heard it, I recommend giving it a listen.

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><p>Shigaraki's last haunt had gone about as well as any of the ones preceding it. As he walked slowly away from the orphanage, he took a long draught from the sake bottle he carried. The warmth of the alcohol spread over him, and his conscious thoughts scattered in the wind. With nowhere to go, he wandered aimlessly down the streets of the city. As he was walking past a certain house, he suddenly heard something that caught his attention, impaired though it was.<p>

_Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san, please come out._

Memories of a vulpine smile and silver hair flashed through his mind with blinding clarity, and he crept closer to the house.

_You know, if you want to talk to Mr. Fox, he's just in the kitchen,_ another voice replied from the other side of the wall, and a glimmer of hope flared to life in a forgotten recess of the tanuki's heart. Hardly daring to breathe, he crouched outside the house and continued to eavesdrop. He took another pull from his bottle and hiccupped quietly, the movement throwing him off balance. A moment later, he was on his side on the ground, and could barely remember why he was there.

_Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san, please come out._

Had he been in his right mind, Shigaraki's next action would have been against his better judgment. Sake always gave him the best ideas, though, and he allowed the summons to pull him to the other side of the wall. "You rang?" he slurred, grinning drunkenly at the occupants of the room. He did not recognize the girl or her companion, so he gulped down some more sake while he tried to decide what to do now.

"Please leave," the girl said after a moment of awkward silence. To Shigaraki's surprise, her companion transformed into a small dog and began growling at him.

"_An inugami?"_ he thought to himself. _"Hardly an appropriate companion for a young girl. I'll have to stall until Kokkuri appears…."_

"I don't have anywhere to go," he laughed, sitting up. "I can't stop drinking and gambling," he added truthfully, running a hand through his hair. "You wouldn't throw an old man out in the cold, would you?"

Still growling, the dog leapt at him, biting ineffectively at his arm. Shigaraki stood, frowning slightly at the pain from Inugami's teeth in his forearm. Even being lifted several feet off the ground didn't seem to deter the dog from hanging on. Looking up, the tanuki noticed that the girl was also nonplussed by his presence. _"Hmm. This isn't going as well as I'd hoped…"_ he thought, raising an eyebrow as she withdrew a small device from her pocket. A moment later, the room was filled with the shrill wail of an alarm. Shigaraki winced at the sound.

"Now, little girl, would you quit that?" He grabbed for the vaguely fox-shaped device, but she kept it out of his reach. Sighing, he picked her up from the ground. Movement across the room caught his eye, and he turned in time to see Kokkuri step into the doorway.

"Kohina, you shouldn't play with the alarm," he was saying, but he stopped abruptly when he caught sight of Shigaraki. "Gah! You're that old tanuki guy! What are you doing here?"

For a moment, all of Shigaraki's coherent thought stopped, replaced by the words, _"He remembers me!"_ When a quiet voice at the back of his mind reminded him that that might not be a good thing, he plastered a broad grin on his face and waved at the kitsune. "Hey, long time no see!" Keeping the cheerful mask firmly in place, he tried to ignore the horrified expression on Kokkuri's face and the vein throbbing at his temple.

"Get out!" the fox roared, pointing to the door. His claws began to show on the ends of his fingers as his anger flared.

Shigaraki set Kohina back on the floor and absently pulled Inugami from his arm, tossing him across the room. Rubbing the sore spot on his arm, he laughed quietly. "Like I told that girl, I've got nowhere to go. Surely, you wouldn't…"

"I don't care!" Kokkuri interrupted. "You'll just bring ruin to this house. Go someplace, _any_place else."

It was difficult to maintain his composure as those barbed words cut chinks in his liquid armor, but the tanuki had always been a gambler. He decided to take his chances. "Look, I'll flip you for it," he said, pulling a coin from the folds of his kimono. "Heads, I stay. Tails, I leave."

"Tch. That coin probably has heads on both sides."

"Yeah, so?" He took advantage of the fox's dumbfounded silence and flipped the coin. When it landed on the back of one hand, he covered it quickly with the palm of the other. "So, what's your call?"

Still struggling to find his words, Kokkuri simply gaped at him for a moment. "What was the point of flipping a trick coin? Have you no shame?"

Shigaraki shrugged. "I've already decided that I'm staying." _"Anything to be near you,"_ his mind amended helpfully.

"Y-you can't just come into someone's home and decide that for yourself!" Kokkuri spluttered, his cheeks reddening with anger. His hands clenched into fists and blue foxfire glowed out from behind his snarling teeth.

Shrugging again, the tanuki smirked slightly. "All right, then." Kneeling next to Kohina, he held out a large bill to her. "What do you say, little lady? Can I stay?"

Eyes wide, she took the bill and nodded her head. Shigaraki's grin widened and Kokkuri dropped his face to his palm with a groan as the money turned back into a leaf. In shock, Kohina sank to the floor, still cradling the leaf to her chest.

"Now, just look what you've done," the kitsune sighed, expression softening as he looked at the state of his charge. "You are the epitome of scum."

"Maybe," Shigaraki agreed with another shrug. Taking another gamble, he crossed the room and strode calmly into Kokkuri's personal space. "Maybe I just missed your cooking," he whispered, his voice low and his lips mere inches from the fox's ear. Without another word, he brushed past him and walked down the hall to take in the rest of the house.

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><p><strong>AN, supplemental:** Just a short chapter, unfortunately. I'm still getting used to these characters, but inspiration struck when I heard _Crazy for You_ on the radio today.

Anyway, hopefully you've enjoyed this little introduction. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Thanks to all the people who have read this story so far, and especially to those who have left reviews. It's nice to know I'm not the only passenger on the KokkuRaki ship. :3

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><p>Kokkuri massaged the bridge of his nose as Shigaraki disappeared down the hall. On the other side of the room, Inugami stood and rubbed his head, having landed on it when the tanuki tossed him away.<p>

"Friend of yours?" the dog spirit asked as he walked over to the kitsune. Suddenly, his eyes landed on Kohina, who was still lying unmoving on the floor. "Darling!" he cried, kneeling beside her. "What did that monster do to you?" He turned back to the door, purple flames dancing in his eyes. "I'll kill him…" Guns already in his hands, he strode purposefully after the Shigaraki. Before he could get to the hall, though, his progress was arrested by Kokkuri's hand on the back of his collar.

"I appreciate the sentiment, Inugami, but now is not the time for that. Go to your house. I'll deal with the tanuki geezer myself."

"Why should you get to have all the fun?" Inugami growled in response, his grip tightening on his pistols.

"I'm not going to kill him, for one thing. I just want to make sure he leaves without making a mess of the house." He sighed, running a hand over his face. "We have… a history, you could say."

Inugami sneered. "And you think he's going to listen to you?"

"Well, he's certainly not going to listen to _you_. I saw how he threw you across the room earlier."

The dog growled again in frustration, but put his guns away. "Fine," he said tersely. "I'll go to my house for now. But if that old man keeps causing problems, I _will_ shoot him."

Kokkuri nodded. "Understood."

Walking around the house, the kitsune was surprised to find it empty. _"Where did that damn raccoon get to?"_ he wondered to himself, hands clenching to fists again on reflex. Pausing in the kitchen, he turned his nose to the air. There was a new scent that he couldn't quite place. It was faint, but seemed to be coming from the front of the house. Slipping on his sandals, he opened the front door and found Shigaraki standing just outside. A cigarette smoldered between his fingers, but he didn't seem to be paying it much attention as he gazed out over the twilit street. Kokkuri cleared his throat quietly to let the other spirit know he was there. The tanuki flicked the cigarette to knock the loose ash from the end, but otherwise made no other move to acknowledge the fox's presence. "Still here, eh?" Kokkuri asked at length.

Shigaraki took a drag from the cigarette and blew the smoke in a thin stream in front of him. "I told you, I've got nowhere else to go." He didn't turn around.

The kitsune frowned. This didn't sound like the Shigaraki he remembered. The Shigaraki he remembered was… well, an unabashed drunkard, but also jovial and warm. Right now, he sounded serious… almost sad. "I would have expected you to be haunting some poor family somewhere."

Another moment of silence passed, and another cloud of smoke drifted up into the night sky. At length, the tanuki chuckled quietly. "Well, you know how it is." He turned around, a crooked grin tugging at his lips. "You bet all their savings at the races trying to double their fortune… make the wrong choice, and they fall into ruin…." He flicked the cigarette butt to the ground and smeared it against the pavement with his geta. "I guess you could say I'm in the market for a new one."

Kokkuri shook his head. "You're terrible." Exasperated as he was, he found it made him feel better to hear Shigaraki laugh.

"Well, you know what I say. I'm possessed of everything but luck. So." He tucked his arms into the sleeves of his kimono and drew himself to his full height. Looking down slightly at the kitsune in front of him, he asked, "May I come in?"

Startled by the question, Kokkuri simply blinked at him. "You… you were waiting out here to ask for permission to stay?"

The tanuki shrugged. "I was originally planning to spend the night outside anyway, until I heard the little girl mention your name…." He paused. "Will she be all right?"

At that, the kitsune laughed. "Oh, probably. I'll make her some instant fried soba later. That usually brings her out of her moods." He turned to head back inside. "Well, come on. If nothing else, you can at least curl up on the floor." The wood of Shigaraki's shoes clicked softly against the stones as he followed him in.

The next morning, Kokkuri went to check on Kohina, only to find that she hadn't moved. "Is she still sulking?" Shigaraki asked from just behind his shoulder.

The fox nodded. "You should probably go apologize. I'll boil some water."

A few minutes later, Kokkuri returned to bring Kohina into the kitchen for her noodles. Shigaraki was crouched next to her, and it looked like she might have moved very slightly. However, her condition hadn't changed all that much. The only notable difference was a second leaf next to her. "What did you do?" the kitsune growled, massaging the bridge of his nose.

The tanuki offered him a lopsided grin. "Well, you mentioned that she liked instant noodles, but I don't have any money, so…." He nodded toward the second leaf.

Heaving a sigh, Kokkuri bent to lift Kohina from the floor. Cradling her in his arms, he turned to Shigaraki. "You should probably stay in here for now, so you don't cause any more problems."

Taking a pull from his sake bottle, Shigaraki gave him a mock salute. "Whatever you say, boss."

Sighing again and shaking his head, the kitsune took the girl to the kitchen and set her on a stool next to the counter. The scent of steeping cup noodles seemed to rouse her somewhat, and she began supporting her own weight on her elbows, waiting for the meal.

"I'll never forgive that tanuki," she stated quietly as he passed her the noodle bowl.

As much as Kokkuri wanted to support her dislike of Shigaraki, he found himself replaying their conversation from the previous night in his head. Remembering the tone of the other spirit's voice caused him to feel a pang in his chest of an emotion he couldn't quite identify. He sighed and poured Kohina a glass of water. "Well, because he's a tanuki, he likes to trick humans. You shouldn't hate him, but you should also not involve yourself with him." Assuming his animal form, he waved his tail around playfully, knowing that would help to calm the girl.

When Kohina had finished her noodles, she set her chopsticks across the top of the empty bowl. "Maybe if he can also turn into an animal, the cuteness will help counteract my rage…" she thought aloud.

"Well, now, I don't know about that…" Kokkuri replied, reverting to his human form. However, Kohina had already run off down the hall. Shaking his head, he followed after her.

"Old man, can you turn into an animal?" she was asking as the fox walked up to the door.

Shigaraki looked up from his bottle. "What? Of course I can. Did you want to see?" The girl nodded. "All right. Here goes." A moment and a puff of golden smoke later, Shigaraki's human form was replaced by a creature that resembled neither an actual tanuki nor a cute stuffed animal. Instead, it looked like a living version of a traditional tanuki statue, complete with a certain anatomical feature that made it unsuitable for children's eyes. "Well?" the tanuki said, holding his arms wide. "You can pet me, if you'd like."

With a horrified cry, Kokkuri covered Kohina's eyes, even though he suspected it was too late. In one swift motion, he picked her up and punted the tanuki across the room. "Don't be gross!"

Shigaraki reverted to his human form and rubbed the red spot the kitsune's foot had left on his face. "Sorry, sorry. She asked me to, and not everyone can be an adorable fox…." He ran his hand through his hair as he stood. "Say, could you lend me some money? I'll pay you back double."

"Tch. I have no money to lend to bums with no income to speak of. Besides, you still owe me that money I lent you ages ago!"

"Huh? Oh. That."

"Don't 'oh, that' me. That was two months' income! Pay me back double right now."

Shigaraki blinked owlishly at Kokkuri. "So, you'll lend me money if I pay that back?"

The kitsune smirked and held out his hand. "If you can pay it back in cash right now, sure."

The tanuki began rifling through the folds of his kimono. "Let's see… it was 100 yen, so… here." He deposited two silver coins on Kokkuri's waiting palm. "There you go." Although he kept his face a neutral mask, Shigaraki thought to himself, _"That's all I have left right now…. Please don't ask for more."_

Kokkuri opened his mouth to object, but realized he had been tricked fair and square. Pouting more than a little bit, he held out the wallet containing his savings. "You could have at least converted that amount to its current value…" he whined as the tanuki walked away.

"Thanks, I'll remember that next time."

"Next time, don't let your debt sit unpaid for more than a century!" the kitsune roared. Still grumbling to himself, he decided to follow Shigaraki to see just how he planned to waste his precious savings. Also interested to see just what kind of lowlife the tanuki really was, Inugami and Kohina decided to tag along. Hanging back a safe distance, they followed after him as he made his way through the city.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shigaraki caught sight of his tail and sighed. "Man, those guys really don't trust me, do they? Well, maybe they'll lose interest before I get where I'm going."

The closer he got to the orphanage, the less attention he paid to the others following him. Even though he was ashamed to be the reason these children had to live in an orphanage instead of with a family, he couldn't help but be cheered by their company. The honest, happy smiles of children warmed his heart. As he played with them, their laughter chased away his cares, at least for the afternoon. Even the dark circles under his eyes seemed lighter by the time the sun began to set.

Walking toward the exit, he looked up to see Kokkuri, Kohina, and Inugami waiting for him. The tanuki sighed and shook his head, having forgotten they were following him.

"You guys must really love me, to follow me all the way out here," he said as he lit a cigarette, not bothering to keep the sarcasm from his voice. "Well, let's have a hug, then." He held his arms wide.

Kokkuri pulled a face and shuddered slightly. "You're reminding me too much of that travesty with your animal form earlier. Quit ruining the mood."

Shigaraki dropped his arms to his sides again, a genuinely confused expression on his face. "Mood? What mood is that?"

"You're a genuinely good person," Kohina replied. "You pretend to be a worthless bum, but you're actually kind."

Laughing slightly, Shigaraki ran a hand through his hair. "Little lady, it's actually sort of the opposite. See, it's my job to trick humans. But because I'm naturally bad, pretending to be a good person counts as tricking them. It makes my job easier."

Gazing at the tanuki with impassive eyes, the girl frowned. "You're just saying that to hide your embarrassment at being found out."

Shigaraki crouched beside her and set his hand gently on her head. His characteristic crooked grin was firmly in place, but Kokkuri noticed it didn't quite reach his eyes. "If that's what you think, then you've already been fooled, little girl," the tanuki replied, holding his cigarette carefully between his teeth. "Besides… these kids are all that's left of the families I've haunted. It's actually… kind of heartbreaking."

"Are you the root of all evil?!" Kokkuri exclaimed as their group began turning toward home again. When he noticed that Shigaraki hadn't moved from the gates of the orphanage yet and simply stood with his eyes downcast, he felt that strange twinge in his chest again. "Well, come on, you old geezer. What's one more misfit in this crowd? Let's go home."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** Thanks again to everyone who has been reading and reviewing this little story. Seeing that other people are enjoying my work is a great encouragement for me to keep going.

The Reviews section sadly does not allow me to reply to anonymous reviews, but to the person who asked for my thoughts on Episode 8: Yes, I had seen it by the time you asked that question. I put off working on chapter 2 of this fic for half an hour so I could watch it. XD The ending almost killed me. Also, I am in serious need of shirtless Shigaraki pictures now. Seriously, who knew he had all that ink?

Anyway, I digress. Back to the story!

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><p>It had been a few weeks since the others had caught Shigaraki spending time at the orphanage. During that time, not much had happened, but at least everyone seemed to tolerate his presence a bit more. He had been hoping to keep that part of his life to himself, but now that it had gotten out, he didn't feel like complaining about the results. Stepping outside of the house and intending to make his rounds at the pachinko parlor, he noticed Kokkuri standing at the gate, looking down the street with a somewhat watery gaze. Lighting a cigarette, he walked over.<p>

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just wondering if Kohina has any friends at school," the kitsune replied with a sigh.

"_He's acting almost like he's that little girl's mother,"_ the tanuki thought, rubbing his chin absently. _"Of course, he'd probably gut me if I told him that…."_ "I'm sure she's fine," he said at length. Kokkuri did not seem convinced.

"Maybe I'll go check on her today."

Shigaraki raised an eyebrow. "Eh? Don't you think that's a bit much? Her life is weird enough with the gang of us spirits here at the house." He took a drag on the cigarette and blew the smoke straight up into the air. "Besides, if you worry too much, your hair will start falling out."

The fox's eyes widened in horror. "It will not! I will be fluffy forever!"

Chuckling, the tanuki flicked a bit of ash to the ground. "Well, in either case, the girl will be fine. I don't think even bullying would bother her."

This was clearly the wrong thing to say, as Kokkuri's expression only darkened. "Bullying is bad! That settles it, I'm going to go to her school. I'll just need to disguise myself so I fit in…." A puff of smoke surrounded the two spirits. When it cleared, the kitsune's kimono had been replaced with a black school uniform, and his long hair had been bound back in a braid. "Well? What do you think?"

The tanuki rubbed his chin in thought. "You're a little tall for a student in her class, but I suppose it might work."

"What do you mean it _might_ work?"

"Well, you know… kids grow up so fast these days. Say, you don't suppose she's found a boy she's interested in, do you?" Shigaraki kicked himself inwardly as Kokkuri paled and his lip started trembling. _"I've got to get out of here quick, before I make things any worse…."_ He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, I'm going to go make my rounds. Good luck, whatever you choose to do." Without looking back, he walked down the street and into the city. The memory of the pained expression on the kitsune's face made it difficult to breathe. As soon as he was out of line of sight of the house, the tanuki stopped and leaned against a wall to get a hold of himself.

After a moment's rest, he stood up from the wall again and made his way down to the pachinko parlor. _"One way or another, I'll have to make it up to him,"_ he decided as he waited in the queue to get in. As he played, his mind wandered over the various ways he could apologize to Kokkuri for repeatedly inserting his foot into his mouth during their conversation earlier. The more he thought about talking to the fox, though, the more sure he became that he would only cause more trouble if he did. He would have to be more subtle about it. Fortunately, luck appeared to be on his side for once, as his winnings continued to pile up. Even other players in the parlor turned to comment on his skill with the game.

Making sure to leave the parlor well enough before the end of Kohina's school day, Shigaraki cashed in his pachinko balls and headed to another part of the city to begin putting together the pieces of his plan. One lengthy and embarrassing conversation with a florist later, he headed home with a small bouquet of gardenias and purple hyacinths, along with a clear glass vase. Arranging the flowers as best he could, which involved a surprising amount of swearing and drinking, he set the vase on the kitchen counter. There, he figured, the kitsune would be likely enough to see it, but it wouldn't be on display for the rest of the house. That done, he set about doing the housework Kokkuri had not been able to do himself when he followed Kohina to school. It wasn't much, and he doubted that anyone would even notice… but the fox just might, and that was enough. By the time he had finished setting the house in order, the sun was beginning to set, and he knew that the other residents would be returning soon. To keep up appearances, he finished off the rest of the sake in his bottle and sat on the floor, leaning back against the wall for support. Cleaning had taken more out of him than he had expected, and he soon fell asleep, cradled by the corner of the room.

Kokkuri returned to the house with Kohina and Inugami in tow, and noticed immediately that something was out of place. Or, more accurately, _nothing_ was out of place. This was surprising given that he had not gotten around to cleaning yet, so he took a walk around the house, eyes narrowed as he looked for any sign of foul play. He found the tanuki about where he expected, in a drunken stupor against a wall. Shaking his head, he chose to leave the other spirit there for the moment, at least until he figured out what was going on.

The more he surveyed the house, the more convinced the fox became that something was amiss. The floor had been swept. The furniture had been dusted. Items that had been taken out at the beginning of the day had been put away in the correct places. His ear twitching slightly, he approached the sleeping tanuki again and cleared his throat. Shigaraki yawned in response, slid down the wall to land on his side on the floor, and began snoring. Kokkuri felt a vein bulging at his temple as he frowned. Crouching beside the sleeping spirit, he prodded him in the shoulder with one clawed finger. The amount of muscle he felt there surprised him. The kitsune had known he was solidly built, but the loose kimono tended to make him look… soft.

"Hey," he said, continuing to poke the tanuki. "Hey, old man." He received no response. "Hey. Tanuki, hey…." When he continued to receive no response, he left off poking Shigaraki's shoulder, and instead flicked him in the middle of the forehead. "Hey. Wake up."

Wincing, Shigaraki opened one eye to peer blearily up at Kokkuri. "Oh, hey. You're home."

"What did you do?"

"Huh?" Sitting up, the tanuki rubbed the sore spot where he had been flicked. "What do you mean?"

"The house," Kokkuri replied.

"What about it?"

"It's clean."

Shigaraki tried to take a drink from his bottle, only to find that it was still empty. "Well, so what?" he asked as he peered into it, hoping to find just a drop more. "The house is always clean. You see to that."

Kokkuri rubbed the bridge of his nose. Talking to Shigaraki just after he had woken up was like herding cats. "Normally, yes, but I didn't get a chance to today. I went to Kohina's school instead."

"Oh, right." Running a hand through his hair, the tanuki blinked up at Kokkuri again. "So, what's the problem exactly?"

"Well, I'm wondering _why_ the house is clean. Did you clean it?"

The fog started to clear from Shigaraki's thoughts as he woke more fully, and he remembered that yes, he had cleaned the house. He doubted the kitsune would believe him if he admitted it, though, so he chose to skirt around the question instead. "Why would I clean the house?"

"You wouldn't," Kokkuri replied matter-of-factly. "That's why I'm asking."

Shigaraki sighed and stood, taking out a cigarette. He was beginning to tire of this interrogation. "Look," he said after lighting up. "Even if I did clean, what's the problem?"

"The only reason I can think of for you to clean is to cover something up. You weren't doing anything inappropriate in here today, were you?" He squinted suspiciously at the tanuki.

Laughing humorlessly, Shigaraki began walking toward the door. "I suppose you would think that of me, wouldn't you?" He shook his head. "No, I cleaned because I figured maybe you'd like to take a breather. You work too hard." Taking a drag on his cigarette, he added, "Anyway, I'm going out for a while." He held up his hand in a wave, but didn't turn around. "Later."

For a moment, Kokkuri could do nothing but watch Shigaraki's back as it moved toward the door. Just as the older spirit was about to leave, he found his words again. "D-don't stay out too late…" he called lamely. "You'll miss dinner."

"Yes, mother." The door closed with a snap.

Staring at the door, Kokkuri floundered. _"What… what even was that just now? Was that… hurt in his voice?"_ The fox felt an increasingly familiar twinge in his chest. He was beginning to understand what it meant, but was afraid to give it a name. Choosing to ignore it for the moment, he headed into the kitchen to begin preparing dinner. That was when he noticed the flowers.

When Shigaraki returned, the house was quiet, asleep. He toed off his shoes and headed for the kitchen. He hadn't exactly meant to miss dinner – the kitsune was a great cook, after all. His walk had simply taken him farther than he had expected, and now he was hungry. Upon reaching the kitchen, the tanuki stopped abruptly, his mouth falling open in surprise before curling into a lopsided grin.

"Tch. Idiot," he chuckled quietly. Kokkuri was sitting on a stool beside the counter, sleeping with his head resting on his arms. Two plates of food sat next to him, along with the vase of flowers. Gently, Shigaraki lifted him into his arms and carried him to his bed. After covering the slumbering fox with his blanket, he returned to the kitchen to put away the food. That done, he went to his own futon and fell asleep, hungry, but smiling.

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><p><strong>AN supplemental:** According to the internets, gardenias represent secret love, and purple hyacinths represent apology.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Thank you everyone, for your continued support of this story. It's so nice to get bursts of warm-fuzzy feelings as I check my email throughout the day.

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><p>The life of an unemployed tanuki, as one might expect, is not terribly eventful. As such, Shigaraki tended to have a great deal of free time, during which his mind was prone to wandering. After the cleaning incident, neither he nor Kokkuri mentioned the flowers or the missed dinner. Assuming the worst, he did what any sensible person would do upon facing rejection by a close friend: he pretended that nothing had happened. More than that, he decided to shove those feelings back into the shadowy corner of his heart from whence they had come. As much as it hurt to deny them, he decided it would be far worse to ruin what little he had with the kitsune now.<p>

When he came home one evening after his usual afternoon ramble, he saw an unfamiliar but attractive young woman at the table with Kokkuri and Kohina. It was as good an opportunity as any to start his ruse, he supposed, so he moved to her side almost as quick as a thought.

"Well, well, well, kitsune," he heard himself say as he looked at the raven-haired woman. "Where have you been hiding this young beauty?"

"Um. That's Inugami."

"He'll be reverting to his male form shortly," Kohina added. The female dog ghost nodded in agreement.

Shigaraki cringed inwardly. He hadn't been counting on flirting with someone he knew, but it was too late now. "The past and future do not matter!" he exclaimed. "What I see before me now is a beautiful young lady to whom I have not yet been properly introduced." He produced a small bottle of sake and cup and forced himself to leer at her. "What do you say? Shall we head to my room and become better acquainted?"

Inugami curled her lip in disdain. "What are you suggesting? As if I would waste my time on some tanuki… Tch."

"If you'd prefer, we could go get dinner somewh—" He started leaning closer, but she had her gun out in the blink of an eye and fired a warning shot right between his eyes. Ignoring the blood that trickled down his nose, Shigaraki smiled. "You're feisty. I like that."

Another shot rang out.

"Hey, Shigaraki!" Kokkuri shouted as the tanuki inched still closer to the angered Inugami. "Stop hitting on people in my house. It's… it's bad for Kohina's upbringing. And… I-I prohibit indecent behavior!"

The older spirit withdrew a handkerchief from his sleeve and used it to wipe the blood from his face. "I suppose you're right. I'm going to go out for a while, then."

"What are you planning to do?" The kitsune's eyes narrowed.

Shrugging, Shigaraki pulled the last cigarette from his pack. "I haven't decided yet. Besides, if it's not in your house, what do you care?" When he received no response, he turned and walked to the door, convincing himself that he couldn't possibly have seen jealousy or hurt mingled with the disgust and disappointment in that golden gaze. Shortly after dark, he found a yakisoba vendor. The tanuki was sorry to be missing Kokkuri's dinner again, but under the circumstances, this was probably best. After that fiasco, he didn't imagine anyone would be interested in sharing a table with him. As the night wore on, he came to a small park and found a bench to sit on.

Resting his head in his hands, Shigaraki tried to clear his mind. Instead of relaxing meditation, however, his thoughts provided him with a variety of helpful images of a certain kitsune. Cursing under his breath, he drained his bottle of sake. _"Well, it's not like we haven't been through rough spots before,"_ he thought, rubbing a hand over his eyes. _"I mean… he was pretty angry when I broke his wall. But we still went drinking after that."_ Standing and stretching, he smiled hopefully to himself. _"Yeah, that's it. He already knows I'm an idiot."_ With that in mind, the tanuki began walking home.

Meanwhile, Kokkuri's mood had darkened when Shigaraki left. Kohina and Inugami exchanged looks at this – Kohina's questioning, and Inugami's knowing. While the kitsune angrily scrubbed the dinner dishes, the little girl and the dog ghost retreated to another part of the house.

"Why is Kokkuri-san so angry at the tanuki man?" Kohina asked as she knelt on the floor beside Inugami.

"When you're older, I think you'll understand," Inugami replied, leaning back against a wall with her legs splayed in front of her. "Shigaraki and Mr. Fox both want something, but they're too stupid to see that what they want is the same."

The girl thought about this for a moment, and then nodded. "I see. If they're interested in the same thing, they should spend time together so they can share it. That way, they don't need to fight."

Inugami had to bite her finger to stifle her laughter. She couldn't tell Kohina just how right she was with her suggestion. "That's a good idea, darling," she said, once she had gotten control of herself again. "You should take me to school with you again so those two can be alone." _"And so the two of _us_ can be alone…" _her mind added, a small smirk curling her lips.

"Okay. You can pretend to be a doll on my bag again."

"What are you two conspiring about in here?" Kokkuri asked, stepping into the room.

"Oh, nothing," Inugami replied with a wicked grin. "We were just trying to guess how late Shigaraki would drag himself back here tonight." She paused for dramatic effect. "If he comes back tonight, that is."

The kitsune's ear twitched and his lips curled into a snarl. "That tanuki…." After a moment of heavy silence, he closed his eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. "He can do what he wants." He turned back to the hall to finish tidying the house.

The dog spirit reached to cover Kohina's ears. "And what about _who_ he wants?" she asked quietly.

Kokkuri stopped in his tracks. For a moment, he just stood there with his back to the room, unmoving. The next moment, he seemed to find himself again and set off down the hall. He did not dignify the question with a response. Inugami's grin only widened.

Shigaraki walked home slowly, enjoying the night air. By the time he reached the Ichimatsu house again, the sky was just beginning to grow light with the dawn. Exhausted, he collapsed on the porch and fell asleep without setting foot inside. He awoke the next morning to hear the kitsune doing laundry. As he hung the freshly cleaned futons on the line to dry, he muttered quietly to himself.

"I hope she's getting along with her classmates…."

"If you're so worried about her, go check on her," Shigaraki replied, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and taking a sip of sake.

Kokkuri started at the sound of the other spirit's voice and turned around to look at him. "H-how long have you…? What are you doing out here?"

"I fell asleep out here," he replied simply. "I was enjoying the night air." Taking another sip of sake, he shrugged. "Besides, I was too tired to make it into the house."

The fox's grip on the laundry tightened. "Out that late, were you?"

The tanuki looked up at the tension in Kokkuri's voice. "What? No." He paused, his brows furrowing. "Well… yes." He looked up at the kitsune to see his expression growing grim. "B-but I wasn't doing anything indecent!" he hurried to add.

The last comment caught Kokkuri off-guard. "Really?"

"Well, unless you count drinking and smoking…. But I do that stuff all the time." As if to demonstrate, he took another pull from the sake bottle beside his head. "I just went for a walk."

Kokkuri nodded, but his posture remained stiff, as though he didn't quite believe what he was hearing.

"So, why not go check on the little lady at school?" Shigaraki asked again, attempting to restart the original conversation.

"Huh? Oh." The fox spirit ran his hand through his hair, suddenly embarrassed. "Well, she got mad at me when I went there every day."

Chuckling quietly, the old tanuki stood and stuck his hands in his sleeves as he stepped out onto the grass. "So don't go every day. Only go when you're feeling particularly concerned about her." He walked over to Kokkuri and rested his hand reassuringly on his shoulder. "Just because you need to let her grow up doesn't mean you need to worry yourself to death about it."

Tensing slightly at the contact, the kitsune felt a blush spread across his cheeks. Shigaraki gave him a crooked grin, and warmth filled his chest until he almost couldn't breathe. Before he could do anything to embarrass himself, he stepped away from the larger spirit. "Y-yeah, I think you're right," he said, hurrying toward the house. "I'll just… just go make sure she's doing all right."

"You do that," the tanuki replied with a quiet chuckle. He picked up his bottle of sake and walked into the house. "You check on the little girl, and I'll…." He yawned and stretched, heading toward his room. "I'll guard our stuff."

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><p><strong>AN supplemental:** I hope this chapter isn't too awkward. Episode 5 didn't give me much to work with ^^;;

Anyway, as always, thanks for reading! Happy Thanksgiving, to those of you celebrating that tomorrow. To those who aren't, I hope you have a great day anyway. c:


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the slight delay in getting this new chapter posted. Work and the holidays have been eating my free time. :\

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><p>Life in the Ichimatsu household fell back into a comfortable routine, and everything seemed to progress fairly normally for a while. That is, until Kohina began seeing spirits. At first, Kokkuri had been afraid that the girl's sanity was beginning to slip even further. It was difficult for Shigaraki to resist pulling the kitsune into a comforting embrace during those times when he trembled watching the girl chase shadows. For that reason, the tanuki opted most often to remain in his animal form.<p>

After discovering the cause of Kohina's odd behavior, the fox's mood was not improved appreciably. He felt responsible for her current predicament, and wished there were some way for him to help her. In the end, though, it seemed all he could do was make suggestions to help her deal with this new ability. As long as she stayed away from the spirits and didn't make eye-contact with them, she should be safe… he hoped.

With Kokkuri's advice in mind, Shigaraki was surprised to find Kohina sitting with a small bat-winged cyclops spirit on her head one afternoon. He frowned. "Little girl, what are you doing? The fox will be upset if he finds you with that thing. They're dangerous, you know."

She turned to look at him. "It just came over to me. I haven't made eye-contact, so I should be safe."

The tanuki knew that Kokkuri would not see it that way, and was just opening his mouth to say so when the kitsune burst into the room, baseball bat in hand. His eyes burned with a protective light as he grabbed the cyclops and dragged it outside. Before any other words could be said, Kokkuri launched the tiny spirit into orbit. His animal nature was beginning to show as he growled in satisfaction at having protected his territory. It had been some time since Shigaraki had seen that type of behavior from the fox, and he had to work to suppress the shiver it provoked.

A moment later, the kitsune's vengeful gaze turned to the tanuki as Kokkuri's clawed fingers tightened their grip on the baseball bat. "And just what were you thinking, letting her sit there with that spirit?"

"Huh?" Shigaraki jumped in surprise. "Well, I…"

"Tch. You were probably just going to keep drinking until it was too late," he growled, turning to head back into the house. "I should know better by now than to think that you or Inugami could be left alone with her."

"Now, wait just a second," Shigaraki called, the fur on his tail puffing up in agitation. "Just what exactly do you think I am?" he asked, trotting over to Kokkuri.

The kitsune whirled around and leveled the bat at the tanuki's nose. "Do you really want to know?"

Shigaraki held his hands up in surrender. "Well, I would at least like to know why you still have such a low opinion of me. I can't exactly defend myself if I don't know what the accusations are."

For a moment, Kokkuri was speechless. Shigaraki's frank statement had caught him off-guard, and now that his adrenaline was starting to fade, he realized that he wasn't actually as annoyed with the tanuki as he had felt seconds prior. He lowered the bat. "Well, you're a drunkard, for one thing," he said at length, the heat no longer burning behind his words. "And an unemployed layabout."

"Is that all?" the tanuki scoffed. "You've known those things about me for years. That's just my nature."

"You're also…." Kokkuri looked away, hoping his long hair would hide his blush. "A lecher…." He coughed slightly before adding, "It's not good for Kohina's upbringing."

Shigaraki sighed and shook his head. "Now, what makes you say that? I told you I just went out for a walk that night."

"Well… there was also the way you acted around Inugami when he was in his female form."

The tanuki winced. He had forgotten about that. "Well, I wasn't in my right mind at the time. That's one of the reasons I wanted to go out for a walk. I needed to clear my head, and the cool night air helped quite a bit."

"So, you're not interested in Inugami?" Kokkuri tried to keep his tone strictly professional, but a hint of hope edged its way in.

"No, I'm not interested in Inugami," Shigaraki replied, his lips curling into a crooked grin. "Willingness to shoot me repeatedly in the head is not something I look for in a potential mate," he added, chuckling. "So, how about you?"

Kokkuri started at the sudden change of topic. "What?"

The tanuki lit a cigarette and took a drag. "Well, Inugami was fairly pretty in his female form. Were _you_ interested?"

"W-well… Inugami isn't… my t-type, I guess…." The kitsune pointedly looked anywhere except for Shigaraki, his face burning.

"Oh, so you have a type, eh?" Shigaraki rolled back onto his tail, taking another drag from his cigarette. "And dangerous and busty isn't it…. Hmm."

Casting surreptitious glances around the yard, the tanuki noticed that he and Kokkuri were alone. The sun had set a few minutes ago, and soft twilight was spreading across the sky. Taking a drink of sake, he reverted to his human form. Then, emboldened by the drink and the fox's embarrassment, he closed the distance between them. Kokkuri tensed and took a step backward, but a soft grip on his arm halted his progress. Shigaraki leaned down so their foreheads nearly touched, savoring their proximity as he knew he was unlikely to get a chance like this again. "You know," he whispered, his deep voice rumbling in his chest, "if you don't stop blushing, people are going to begin thinking that a tall, drunk, useless tanuki _is_ your type. You wouldn't want that."

Kokkuri's blush only deepened as he noticed Shigaraki's grip on his arm and felt the reverberations of his voice in his own chest. He opened his mouth to ask what the tanuki thought he was doing, but words failed him. The scents of alcohol, tobacco smoke, and sandalwood were overwhelming him. Not sure what was happening, but also not wanting to lose any more control of the situation, he changed to his animal form and hurried across the porch. "I'm going to… m-make dinner," he managed to squeak before disappearing into the house.

Shigaraki chuckled and returned to his animal form. The expression on the kitsune's face was a memory he would cherish for the rest of his life. He doubted that Kokkuri would ever let the tanuki care for him the way that he wanted to, so he decided instead to dedicate himself to caring for the things that Kokkuri cared for – namely, Kohina. No matter how hard he tried, the fox couldn't be everywhere. For whatever reason, the fox had decided to adopt this child almost as though she were his own. Shigaraki didn't know why the kitsune had done it, but he knew now that he wanted to protect Kokkuri's happiness, regardless of the cost. That was enough.

"It's enough," he confirmed quietly to himself as he ground the butt of his cigarette underfoot before heading into the house.

A few days later, while Kokkuri was out buying groceries, Shigaraki decided to make good on his promise to care for the little girl while the fox was unable to do so. Of course, in order to do that, he first had to _find_ the little girl. Inugami was sitting alone, so Kohina had to be somewhere else. As he walked back toward the yard, he noticed her with the winged cyclops from before, looking as though she wanted to hide it somewhere.

"Oh, that thing came back?" He sat down on the edge of the porch. "Let's have a little chat," he said, patting the wood next to him. When Kohina sat down, he cleared his throat. "Humans really shouldn't try to domesticate spirits and things. They can't tell the difference between right and wrong, you see, so they're dangerous to be around. I know the kitsune would be sad if anything were to happen to you, and I don't want to see a little girl get hurt, either. It's best to just get rid of this thing now."

Unconvinced, Kohina looked down at the tiny spirit. "But what harm could it do? It's so small."

Shigaraki chuckled quietly. "You know, the fox may once have said the same thing about you. And then you threw rock salt in his face."

"Ohhh…. But it's not dangerous," she argued. "And it's intelligent enough to learn tricks. See?" She held out her hand to the spirit. "Shake." Having no hands to shake with, it instead bit into her fingers.

"Gah! That's not a trick, little girl, it's eating you!" Shigaraki swatted the spirit to the ground. His eyes narrowed as he saw the blind hunger flash through the thing's eye. Hopping down from the porch, he picked it up and headed for the gate. "I'll just do the responsible thing and get rid of this for you. It's for your own good."

Before he could get far with it, though, Kohina jumped from the stairs and took it back. "I'll decide when it becomes too dangerous, and set it free then. Please keep it a secret until then."

Not happy about keeping this kind of secret from Kokkuri, Shigaraki hesitated, worrying the ground with his toe.

"Promise me you'll keep this a secret," the girl repeated, hugging the cyclops almost protectively. Her expression indicated she would accept no arguments.

"Well, it doesn't seem like I have much choice…." The tanuki reverted to his human form and ran a hand through his hair. "All right, all right, I promise…." He sighed and silently hoped that he wouldn't come to regret that promise.

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><p><strong>AN supplemental:** Yes, I've decided that Shigaraki smells of sandalwood. Because reasons. ¬.¬

As usual, thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Thank you all for your continued support of this story :) It really does mean a lot to me.

Just so you all know, my schedule this coming week is a bit tight, so I may not be able to update as much as I have been. I'll put the next chapter up as soon as I can :)

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><p>"I'm going to go hide the cyclops, so could you please walk Inugami-san?" Kohina asked, still holding tightly to the small spirit. "It's my turn to walk him today."<p>

Shigaraki frowned and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, I suppose I could, but…. Is that really fair to Inugami? He'd want to go with you." Inwardly, he cringed. _"I'm starting to sound like the fox."_

The girl thought for a moment, and then turned back to the tanuki. "I've got an idea. You can transform yourself to look like me, and then trick him. Isn't deception your specialty?"

A small smirk tugged at Shigaraki's lips. "Deception, yes. Disguises… less so. But I suppose it's worth a try."

A moment later, he frowned at himself in the mirror. "There's no way that dog is going to fall for this," he said, looking over his shoulder at Kohina. "I look like some sort of deranged, middle-aged cosplayer."

"Hmm. You're right. We'll have to think of something else." She looked him over critically. "What else are you good at?"

The old tanuki shrugged, feeling more than a little uncomfortable in his Kohina costume. "Nothing that is likely to be helpful in this situation. I'm mostly good for drinking and gambling. And the occasional con, of course."

"Gambling could work. We could bet Inugami that he can't tell the two of us apart."

Shigaraki pursed his lips in thought. "I guess… but there again, we run into the problem that I look nothing like you."

The girl nodded. "Exactly. So we bet that he can't tell us apart… and tell him that if he guesses correctly, he gets to go for a walk with you. If he guesses incorrectly, he gets to go for a walk with me."

The tanuki took a moment to mull that over, and then his lips curled into a feral grin. "You're devious. I like that. Of course, I also find it somewhat terrifying. But in any case, let's do this thing. I don't want you holding onto that little spirit any longer than you have to."

Just outside the room where Inugami was waiting, Kohina called out to the dog spirit before hurrying away to hide. Seeing how excited she was to spend time with Kohina, Shigaraki almost felt bad for the trick they were going to pull. However, there really wasn't much to be done at this point. "Let's go for a walk," he said, holding up Inugami's leash as she neared the door.

In an instant, her smiling face had turned into a scowl, and she trained her gun on the tanuki's forehead before he could blink. "Just what do you think you're doing, old man?" she growled. "I knew you were perverse, but I didn't think you would go so far as to dress up like my darling just to get close to me."

"Oh, you saw through my disguise that easily?" Shigaraki asked, doing his best to feign surprise.

"Is that some kind of joke? Was that ridiculous getup really supposed to trick me? Tch."

"I guess I would expect nothing less from her stalker."

At that moment, Kohina appeared in the open door leading to the porch. She clapped politely. "Very good, Inugami. You saw through the tanuki's disguise. I am impressed." The dog spirit's tail wagged hopefully. "However," the little girl added after a moment, "can you get lucky twice in a row?"

"Eh?" Inugami tilted her head in confusion as Shigaraki and Kohina began running back and forth across the room. "What are you two doing?"

"We are being shuffled at high speed, and then standing together," the girl explained as she ran.

"Can you tell which one is the real Ichimatsu now?" she and Shigaraki asked in unison. Inugami stared at them in bemused silence.

Grinning devilishly, Kohina regarded the dog spirit. "Why don't we make a bet? If you correctly guess which is the real Ichimatsu, you will go for a walk with the old man. If you guess incorrectly, you will go for a walk with the real Ichimatsu."

For a moment, Inugami could not believe what was happening. She looked, horrified, between the two "Ichimatsus" and engaged in an internal battle to determine which answer to give. It was not difficult to tell which was the true Kohina, but she did not want to betray her love for the girl by claiming that she believed the costumed Shigaraki was the real one. In the end, weeping, she found she could not lie when Kohina was concerned.

"That's correct," the tanuki muttered quietly, handing her the leash. He really did feel bad about this deception, but he had to let Kohina deal with the cyclops.

For the first block or two, the walk was more of a "drag" than anything else, and Shigaraki eventually stopped. "You know, if you're not going to walk, I'll have to carry you."

Reluctantly, the dog spirit stood and began walking, though she kept her tail between her legs, her ears drooping onto her hair.

"I doubt it matters much to you," the tanuki added at length, "but I'm sorry about all this. The little lady asked for some time to herself."

Inugami sneered. "Tch. As if I believe anything you say, you damn tanuki. All you ever do is torment me." She paused, her lips turning down into a thoughtful frown. "It's not as though you don't have anything better to do… like telling Mr. Fox how you really feel about him."

Shigaraki's eyes widened briefly in surprise, and then he chuckled quietly. "You're perceptive, aren't you?"

The dog spirit shrugged. "You're just not terribly subtle. So… why don't you?"

Lighting a cigarette, Shigaraki sighed. "He doesn't need a bum like me dragging him down. Besides, it's better to keep what we've already got, rather than making things awkward and driving him away." He took a drag on the cigarette and exhaled the smoke slowly. "As long as I can make sure he's happy by protecting what's important to him, that's enough for me."

Inugami shook her head. "You've got it bad, huh?"

The old tanuki's lips curled into a lopsided grin. "You have no idea."

When they returned to the Ichimatsu house, the sun had nearly set. Kokkuri, in his fox form and carrying a bag of groceries, was running away from the gate yelling something about snacks. Kohina looked distraught, and seemed to want to chase after him. Without waiting for Shigaraki, Inugami immediately ran up to the little girl to comfort her. His job done, the tanuki decided to see what was bothering the fox.

"Hey, kitsune," he called. "What's wrong?"

Kokkuri turned. Catching sight of Shigaraki, his expression changed into one of confused horror. "D-do I want to know why you're dressed like that?"

"Oh." Laughing, the tanuki ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry, I forgot I was still in costume. This was just related to a little bet Kohina and I made with Inugami to decide who would take her for her walk today…" There was a sudden puff of golden smoke, and then Shigaraki appeared in his normal human form. "So, now that I'm no longer cross-dressing, will you tell me what's bothering you?"

"It's Kohina…" the fox muttered quietly. "When I came back from the store, she just hit me over the head for no reason. When I asked her why she did it, she didn't answer, and just kept hitting me over and over." He sniffled pitifully, and Shigaraki had to smother his urge to scoop him up and hug him.

"Well, she's been watching a lot of martial arts movies recently. Maybe she just wanted to test out a move?"

"That still doesn't explain why she wouldn't tell me what was going on…."

The tanuki shrugged, taking another drag on his cigarette. "She's getting to be about that age, too…" he muttered thoughtfully.

"'That age?'"

"You know, the age when kids stop wanting their mothers… or any parental figure… to be around? Maybe she just needs some space."

Reverting to his human form, Kokkuri stopped and turned to Shigaraki. "Do you really think so? Have I been too… too clingy?"

His lips curving into another lopsided grin, the tanuki shrugged. "I don't know. I've never been a young girl, despite that costume earlier. I'm just remembering what I saw with the families I haunted. Try just giving her some room these next few days. She'll come around."

"That's… surprisingly insightful, Shigaraki. Thanks." Kokkuri looked like he couldn't quite believe he was taking advice from the old man, but he was grateful nonetheless. As they headed back to the house together, he felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders by the other spirit.

Over the next few days, Kohina spent her after school hours playing with the spherical cyclops under the watchful eyes of Shigaraki. To his surprise, she actually took reasonably good care of it, feeding it, taking it for walks, doing art projects with it….

"_That's better care than she takes of Inugami,"_ the tanuki thought with a slight chuckle. _"I just wish I could have someone else watch her from time to time…. Ah well. A promise is a promise."_

Things were going fairly well until Kohina tripped and fell while playing one day. The tiny spirit rushed over to lick the scrape on her knee, and Shigaraki noticed the same hunger glowing in its eyes that he had seen days ago. An uncharacteristic growl rumbling from his throat, he jumped down from the tree where he had been sitting.

"Let's go home, little lady," he said, his voice low as he grabbed Kohina's arm. He realized he was acting a bit like an overprotective father, but he found that he was beginning to feel like one, as well, so it didn't particularly bother him. "I forgot to tell you," he added once they had gotten farther from the spherical cyclops, "you shouldn't give blood to spirits like that."

She seemed to think it over for a moment before replying. "I see, so they should get their iron from things like spinach instead."

"Well… that's not exactly what I meant, but… sure. Why not."

When they returned to the house, Kokkuri immediately noticed Kohina's skinned knee, and was about to go get the first aid kit when she stopped him.

"It's all right. It's been licked better and doesn't hurt anymore."

Shigaraki winced, knowing what the fox would assume given that statement. A moment later, he found himself with a skillet to his throat, and a dangerously angry kitsune in front of him.

"What did you do, you perverted old tanuki?" Kokkuri snarled.

Holding up his hands in surrender, the tanuki replied, "I'm innocent, I swear. It was a…." He paused, remembering he had promised not to tell the kitsune about the tiny spirit. "A cat, probably a stray."

A look of horror crossed Kokkuri's face, and he immediately released Shigaraki. "Well, it will definitely need to be disinfected, then! Who knows where that thing has been?" He turned around and ran back into the house. "Kohina!"

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully, and as darkness fell, everyone went to sleep, apart from Shigaraki. Once he was sure he was the only one left awake, he crept into Kohina's room to keep watch over her. He had a bad feeling about that cyclops. Wanting to be prepared for the worst, he withdrew his long-disused shakujo from the folds of his kimono, resting the end of the staff on the tatami. In the deepest part of the night, he heard a slight rattle from the window. Looking up, he saw the tiny spirit open the window before flying over the sleeping girl. His grip on the staff tightened, his knuckles almost white.

Just as the spirit was about to attack, Shigaraki stood and struck out with the shakujo, spitting the creature on the staff. It didn't please him to destroy the spirit, especially since Kohina had seemed so fond of it, but he knew he couldn't have left it alive once it had gotten a taste for human blood. Besides which, he'd needed to protect her…. He flung the remains of the cyclops from the end of his staff and hissed in pain as it used its dying breath to curse him. A stream of blood flowed from the wound its curse had caused, a wound more permanent than any mundane injury would cause. Ignoring the blood, the tanuki looked down at the still-sleeping Kohina.

"What are we going to do about you?" he sighed. "I can't just tell you that I've killed your friend…." He paused as an idea came to him. "I wouldn't want to see you cry, after all. But I could make it so you no longer see any spirits at all…." Kneeling beside her, he held his hand over her. It began glowing with a soft light in the darkness of the room. "Humans and spirits aren't meant to live together. Ultimately, you'll be happier this way."

His work completed, and the threat defeated, Shigaraki left Kohina's room to tend to his injury. It was all he could do to stop the bleeding. The scar, he knew, would be permanent. With a sigh, he headed to bed.

The next morning, he awoke later than everyone else, and dragged himself into the kitchen partway through breakfast. He didn't bother trying to stifle his yawn, and used it as a sort of greeting to everyone else in the room. Kohina looked up at him first, and her eyes widened with curiosity.

"Shigaraki-san, there's a cut on your face."

He opened his mouth to reply, but Kokkuri cut him off with a sneer. "He probably got scratched by some girl he was hitting on."

Shigaraki laughed. That wasn't the excuse he was going to use, but it was as good as any, he supposed. "Yeah, something like that."

When Kohina did not appear convinced by that explanation, Kokkuri took a closer look at the cut in question. Noticing that it left a scar, he frowned. A normal scratch wouldn't have done that….

"Say, Shigaraki…" he said, turning from the sink.

"It's nothing. Don't worry yourself about it. One of these days, I'll learn not to stick my nose where it doesn't belong," the tanuki replied with a grin.

Sighing, the kitsune returned to his work. He would just have to ask for the truth some other time.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** All right, folks. My week of no free time has passed, and given way to a week of very little free time! Fortunately, that means I had enough time to write at least a little bit. c:

Thanks for your patience!

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><p>Kokkuri frowned as he walked with Kohina back from the grocery store. Lately, he could not seem to stop thinking about Shigaraki. Or, perhaps more accurately, he could not stop thinking about the scar the old man had recently acquired. He was, after all, a layabout and a drunkard. He actively avoided work. What could he possibly have done to come by such a permanent injury? The kitsune's frown deepened. It was also strange how acquisition of the scar coincided so perfectly with Kohina's loss of the ability to see spirits. There was no question about it. The tanuki was hiding something.<p>

Returning from his thoughts again, Kokkuri was surprised to see an attractive young woman looking at him, though she shyly tried to hide her interest. Not wishing to embarrass her, the fox ignored her and continued walking. As the days passed by, he noticed the same young woman watching him again and again. He did not want to make her uncomfortable by approaching her to ask about her attentions, but at the same time, he was beginning to think an awkward encounter was becoming inevitable.

Eventually deciding that it might be helpful to get another person's perspective on matters, he asked Shigaraki to accompany him as he took Kohina on their regular trip to the store. Was it his imagination, or did the tanuki seem genuinely excited at the prospect of the walk? Shaking his head, Kokkuri dismissed the thought. After all, it was not as though he were Inugami looking forward to a walk with Kohina. In any case, whether he was excited or not, this would make a good opportunity to talk to him about that scar.

"So, Shigaraki," he began quietly once they were a reasonable distance away from the house.

"Hmm?"

"Why do I get the feeling you're not telling the truth about how you got that scar?"

The tanuki dropped back a pace, shaking his head. He tried to cover the delay by lighting a cigarette, but Kokkuri didn't buy it. "You just don't want to let that go, do you?" he asked as he caught up again.

"Well, it's just…." He lifted Kohina down from his shoulder to let her walk on her own for a bit. "I guess it just doesn't make sense. I mean, it would take more than a scratch or a slap to leave that kind of mark. Inugami's shot you in the head about a dozen times now, and that never did anything like this…." He let his voice trailed off.

"Just drop it, kitsune," Shigaraki said, his voice low. Taking a drag on his cigarette, he continued. "You know what I'm like. I bring ruin wherever I go. I haven't ruined a household in a while, so I guess it's only fitting I should ruin my own appearance instead."

"I wouldn't say your appearance is ruined…." The words were out of Kokkuri's mouth before he thought to stop them. The surprise on the old man's face was priceless as he spluttered on a bit of smoke.

"What was that?"

Suddenly embarrassed, the fox backpedaled. "W-well… I mean, you've always looked just t-terrible, haven't you?" He laughed nervously. Lying wasn't his strong suit. Meanwhile, Kohina simply looked on with curiosity as they walked.

A low chuckle rumbled from Shigaraki's chest. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

Kokkuri had always thought that "heartwarming" was just a figure of speech, but he couldn't help noticing a certain feeling of warmth spreading through his chest when he heard Shigaraki genuinely laugh. He was fairly certain he knew what that sensation meant, but he wasn't sure he was ready to admit it to anyone yet, including himself. Instead, he passed the rest of the trip to the store in companionable silence with the taller spirit.

On the walk home, the kitsune was unsurprised to see the young woman again, following him with her eyes, as had now become the norm.

"Doesn't it seem like that girl is interested in you?" he asked. Although his voice carried its usual light tone, there was a bit of tension that surprised Kokkuri. And, had he imagined hearing a quiet growl escape the tanuki's throat a moment ago? Had Shigaraki stepped slightly closer and assumed a somewhat possessive posture beside him as they passed the girl?

"You're imagining things," the fox replied, half to the old man and half to himself. "Besides, I'm not really in the market for a date right now."

Shigaraki relaxed visibly. Perhaps Kokkuri hadn't been imagining the change in his posture after all? "That's a shame," the tanuki said quietly.

The kitsune arched an eyebrow. "Oh? How so?"

"Th-that is…." The barest hint of rose colored the tanuki's cheeks. He had not meant to say that aloud, and now needed to cover up his blunder. "W-well, she's cute, is all. It seems like a… a waste."

Kokkuri snorted quietly. "You think everyone is cute."

"Well… not everyone…."

"Do you think I'm cute?" The kitsune covered his mouth with his hands as soon as the words crossed his lips. He really needed to stop speaking without thinking. What was it about spending time with Shigaraki lately that left him feeling so out of his depth? He looked away, hoping to gather himself again and force the vivid blush from his cheeks. When he turned back, he saw that the tanuki had pulled his hat up to shield his own expression.

"I… don't think that's… quite the word I would choose, no," the old man replied quietly.

Kokkuri couldn't decide if he ought to feel insulted by that statement. Something about the other spirit's tone told him that it hadn't been meant as a slight. Curious, he raised his eyebrows again. "No? What word would you choose, then?"

Shigaraki made a strangled sound and was suddenly enveloped in a cloud of gold smoke as he assumed his animal form. "I'll… I'll tell you some other time," he called over his shoulder as he ran into the house, cheeks flaming even through his fur.

"Kokkuri-san, what's wrong with the Shigaraki-san?" Kohina asked quietly. As she watched him disappear into the house, she realized his actions reminded her of her last interaction with Jimeko-san at school. She was not quite sure what to make of that. Ultimately, she came to the conclusion that adults were strange.

"I… I'm not sure." He gazed after Shigaraki with a bemused expression on his face. A strange fluttering sensation began to grow in his belly, and he found that the longer he thought about it, the harder it was to keep from smiling.

Over the next few days, Kokkuri didn't see much of the old tanuki. That in itself was not exactly strange, but under the circumstances, he wondered if he was avoiding him. In either case, he had to get groceries, so he ended up going for his usual walk with just Kohina beside him. When they returned to the house, the young woman was waiting for them, looking as shy as ever. Kokkuri sighed. He was not looking forward to this encounter. Coming to a stop beside the gate, he waited for her to say something.

"I'm sorry to disturb you," she said quietly, keeping her gaze on the ground. "I couldn't help it…. It was love at first sight." Looking up, her clear aqua eyes met his gold ones. "So, if it's not too much trouble… could you give me that doll?" She pointed to Kohina, who sat on the kitsune's shoulder.

For a moment, Kokkuri was at a loss for words. "Y-you mean… this isn't a confession?" He was relieved, but at the same time, somewhat disappointed.

"If I have any confession to make, it's that I have what you might call an obsession with macabre dolls." She paused, and then her eyes lit up with mirth. "Wait, did you think…?"

Kokkuri looked away, embarrassed. Taking advantage of his discomfort, the young woman lunged forward and snatched Kohina from his hands. Still convinced the girl was a doll, she began examining her more than reasonably closely to see just how she was made. For a moment, Kokkuri was so shocked and appalled that he couldn't do anything but gape at her. As her actions grew more and more inappropriate, though, he came back to himself. Using his ever-present skillet, he managed to pry Kohina away from the strange woman, threatening all the while to call the police.

They argued for some time, their voices carrying into the Ichimatsu house and attracting the attention of both of the remaining residents. Shigaraki and Inugami moved to the gate to find out just what sort of excitement was happening outside. When the tanuki saw the now familiar young woman standing outside, he felt a growl rising in his chest, and the fur on his tail began to stand on end. Inugami beat him to the gate, though, when he heard Kohina's voice.

"No, I am the most suitable companion for my darling," he shouted, inviting himself into the already confusing conversation between cat and fox.

"Stop helping!" Kokkuri cried, still struggling to keep the little girl out of this mess.

Noticing more fully what was going on, Shigaraki began to relax. "Wait… so you're not after the kitsune?" he asked, trying to keep his voice from sounding too hopeful.

"No, I'm only interested in that doll. It's not my fault he got the wrong idea just because our eyes met." She laughed. "I'm actually embarrassed for him."

Growing tired of the argument, Kohina raised her voice to call over those of the gathered spirits. "Stop this. Kokkuri-san is a handsome and popular man. He couldn't help the misunderstanding."

The kitsune turned, surprise plain in his expression. "Kohina, you're… you're defending me?"

"Well, it's true… right, Shigaraki-san?"

The old man had been ignoring most of the conversation after realizing that the cat was not trying to seduce Kokkuri, and was startled to hear his name. "Huh?"

His lack of attention caused Tama to laugh even harder, and the kitsune gritted his teeth in irritation. "She was asking whether you agreed that I was handsome and popular," he growled.

"O-oh… well, I…." The tanuki laughed nervously, rubbing his head in embarrassment. "I mean… of… of course, I do…." Kokkuri's eyes widened in surprise. "But then, it's been said that I think everyone is cute, s-so I may not be the best judge."

Sighing heavily again, Kokkuri pinched the bridge of his nose. "All right, you know what? That's enough of this nonsense. You," he said, pointing at Tama. "You are not welcome here. Please go away. You two," he continued, turning to Shigaraki and Inugami. "Go back into the house. You're not helping anything out here. And you," he said, turning to where he expected Kohina to be, "er… Kohina? Where…?" Looking down the road, he saw that the cat spirit had also disappeared. Turning back again, he found that there was a vaguely Kohina-shaped doll standing beside the gate.

"Th-that cat girl must have run off with Kohina," he spluttered. "She replaced her with this horrible thing!"

Shigaraki returned to his human form and stepped up beside Kokkuri, placing his hand reassuringly on the kitsune's shoulder. "Well, let's go get the little lady back, then. It wouldn't do to leave her in the hands of someone like that."


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** Apologies again for the delay. The holidays being what they are, my time has been full of work and myriad other obligations, leaving little left for writing. After the new year, I will hopefully have a bit more left over for putting together new chapters. Trust me, I am as anxious as you to get to episode 8. XD

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><p>By the time Kokkuri, Inugami, Shigaraki, and pseudo-Kohina arrived at Nennekotei, the true Kohina had escaped from the clutches of Tama, and strode calmly back out to the street.<p>

"Darling!" Inugami exclaimed, running over and pulling her into an embrace. "How did you escape the clutches of that hag?"

"Simple," the girl replied, pushing the dog spirit away. "I told her that her mother had been made into a shamisen."

"How cruel…" Kokkuri muttered. "Well, now that you're safe, I suppose it's time to head home again."

As they walked back to the Ichimatsu house, Shigaraki began to notice just how much this unlikely group felt like a family to him. Even with the families he had haunted before, he had simply existed in the background, never really interacting with anyone as openly as he did with this little girl and the other spirits haunting her. The kitsune had relaxed considerably, and was smiling while carrying Kohina on his shoulders. The dog followed along behind, continuing to profess his undying love for the girl. It was almost… normal.

"What are you grinning about?" Kokkuri asked. He arched an eyebrow at the tanuki.

Startled out of his musing, Shigaraki slowed. "Huh? Oh, nothing. It's just…." The fox looked at him expectantly. "It's nothing, nevermind." He shook his head and resumed his normal pace.

Kokkuri frowned. Lately, it seemed like Shigaraki was hiding a lot from him. He remembered the old tanuki being warm and open, never particularly caring what anyone else thought of him. Recently, though, he had been playing his cards quite close to his chest. _"Though, he has also been getting quite flustered when he says something he didn't mean to,"_ he thought, remembering the slight blush coloring the old man's cheeks when he had lamented Kokkuri's lack of interest in dating anyone.

The next moment, he remembered something else the tanuki had said a few days prior. _"So you have a type, eh?"_ He could almost feel Shigaraki's strong but gentle grip on his arm, and his own cheeks colored at the memory. After countless hours thinking it over, Kokkuri was ready to admit to himself that there may have been some merit to the old man's suggestion that "a tall, drunk, useless tanuki" was his type… though if he was to be honest, he wouldn't have chosen all of those words himself. Even so, he was not convinced he was ready to admit these things to the tanuki himself. After all, Shigaraki had been teasing when he'd said those things… and had likely been teasing every other time his tone had shifted toward flirtation. There was no way…. He had some serious thinking to do, which meant he needed some time alone. Around this house, there was only one way to accomplish that.

"I'm going to clean the storehouse," he stated as they reached the gate. "I haven't been in there in quite some time, so I'm sure it's a mess."

Shigaraki looked like he was about to object, but changed his mind. "Well, we'll just leave you to that, then," he said instead, and ushered Kohina and Inugami inside.

In the storehouse, Kokkuri set about dusting and pulling down cobwebs. The rhythmic work was cathartic, and he found it simple to sift through the memories of his most recent interactions with a certain old tanuki. In the past, their relationship had been irritating at best. Constantly wandering, drinking, and gambling, Shigaraki had lived up to his "drunk and useless" description, especially when he had destroyed the wall between their apartments just so Kokkuri could clean for the both of them…. The kitsune unconsciously gritted his teeth at that particular memory. Now, though, what had they done? Shigaraki had cared for orphans… and cleaned the house…. He seemed to take reasonably good care of Kohina when left on his own, and when he genuinely smiled, it was enough to warm even the deepest part of the fox's soul. Had he really changed, after all these years? Kokkuri resolved to talk to him once the storehouse was clean. He had to know, one way or another.

Continuing with his dusting, the kitsune came across a box. Next to it on the shelf was a sign reading, "Do not open this box." His ear twitched slightly as his curiosity began to get the better of him. Picking it up, he noticed that it had another sign tied to it. This second note read, "Don't open it. Seriously. Don't open it." Frowning, he began to fidget with the tie on the box. As tends to be the case with these things, being told that he shouldn't do something only made him want to do it more. Looking over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being observed, he crept deeper into the storehouse and opened the box. A burst of smoke suddenly filled the room. When it cleared, he noticed that the only thing inside of the box was yet another note. It was around that time that he also noticed the cleavage showing from his kimono. Dropping the box, he rushed to the nearest mirror.

"Wha… I… I'm a woman?" he stuttered, gazing at his reflection in horror while he hurried to straighten his clothes. He tried transforming out of the female form, to either his male or his animal forms, but he could not. "Oh… oh no… w-what do I…? Maybe that paper has something that can help…."

He moved back over to the box, stumbling on the hem of his kimono that was dragging on the ground due to his change in height. Much to his chagrin, the note in the box said nothing other than, "Told you not to open it." The offending paper burst into blue flame under Kokkuri's withering gaze. Muttering choice expletives under his breath, the fox began plotting how best to avoid being seen by the others in his current state. Just as he was about to put his plan into action, however, he noticed Kohina staring at him from around the storehouse door.

"You're a woman," she stated in her normal dispassionate voice as she walked into the room.

"Er… yes. It, um… it happened when I opened a strange box." The kitsune knelt on the floor, wringing his fingers in embarrassment.

"Most of the items in this storehouse are cursed. You're lucky that one didn't kill you." She paused and looked over at the empty box lying open on the floor. "There's probably a piece of paper somewhere explaining how to end this curse."

Kokkuri growled and glared at the box again, blue fire glowing behind his teeth. "There was only an aggravating piece of paper in that box. It was no help at all."

"If aggravating pieces of paper are held up to the light, sometimes new words will be found."

The kitsune's mouth fell open in disbelief. "You… you're kidding. Why would anyone do something so confusing? I burned that paper for being unhelpful!"

"The dying wish of the first head of this family was to leave confusing papers in cursed boxes." Kokkuri continued to regard the girl with silent incredulity. "He wanted to see people get frustrated over and over again."

"That's awful!" Sighing, Kokkuri stood and hid his face in his hands. "Anyway, we need to figure out how to turn me back to normal before the others find out. Are there any other clues in this storehouse?"

"I don't know," Kohina replied quietly, looking around the large room at all of the disorganized shelves. "Why don't you want the others to know? Couldn't Shigaraki or Inugami help end the curse?"

Kokkuri shuddered. "I'd rather keep this just between the two of us. I mean, Inugami lives to torment me, and Shigaraki… well, I'm not sure about him. When we knew each other years ago, he always seemed like a perverted old man who would hit on anyone with no Y chromosome. Recently… I just don't know… but I'm not sure I want to risk it."

"What are you to going on about in here?" Shigaraki asked, as he and Inugami appeared just outside the storehouse door. Kokkuri blanched at their extremely untimely arrival.

The tanuki looked around the inside of the storehouse as he walked over to the little girl and the fox. When his gaze landed on the other spirit, though, he dropped his sake bottle in shock. Inugami, still in his animal form, leapt from Shigaraki's shoulder to catch it before it hit the floor. He had never seen Kokkuri in a female form before, or if he had, it had been so long ago, and for so short a time, that he no longer remembered. It was not a bad look, though he did not seem particularly comfortable in his own skin at the moment. Even so, it seemed to the tanuki that this could be an unprecedented opportunity to bare his soul, to say all of the things he had been keeping buried for so long. If nothing else, he could always pass it off as a reaction to the shock later on.

"Kitsune," he began, taking a step closer to Kokkuri.

For his part, the fox was thoroughly unnerved by the Shigaraki's piercing gaze. "W-what?" He felt heat rising to his cheeks, and he couldn't help but notice the quickening of his heartbeat at the longing in the tanuki's voice.

"I'll work," the taller spirit continued. Taking a step closer, he clasped Kokkuri's hand in his own. "I'll quit drinking, and smoking, and gambling."

"What are you talking about?" the kitsune asked, his voice trembling. Nearly all of his cogent thought had stopped the moment he'd felt Shigaraki's strong hand around his own.

"Anything I do or have done that lowers your opinion of me, I'll stop doing." He took another step closer and leaned down to Kokkuri's ear. "Marry me," he breathed, his voice low to keep the words between the two of them.

For a moment, the fox felt as though his heart had stopped at that low whisper, and words failed him. The heat of the old tanuki's gaze and the promise behind those two words pooled warm in his belly, and he found himself beginning to lean into the other spirit. The attention of Kohina and Inugami stayed him, though, and he pulled back self-consciously.

"B-but, I'm a man," he stammered, the argument sounding lame even to his ears. "There's no way I could accept your proposal. You'll have to find someone else."

Ignoring the sting of the kitsune's refusal, Shigaraki pressed on, knowing it was now or never. Swallowing his nerves, he took a deep breath and started again. "There is no one else. You're beautiful, and you're great at taking care of people. You even enjoy house work. Besides which, we've known each other a long time, and are fairly close in age. There could never be anyone else but you."

Kokkuri looked away. The sincerity shining in the old man's eyes was too much to bear. "I just… I want to lift this curse somehow," he muttered under his breath. "Isn't there anything you can do?"

The tanuki rocked back on his heels and cradled his chin in thought. His mind worked furiously to think of some way to continue forward. Suddenly, a memory came to him of a fairy tale he had once heard, and he had to work to keep the grin from his lips. "Well, there is one thing we could try…."

"Really?"

The hope in Kokkuri's voice made Shigaraki feel a little guilty… but only a little. "Have you ever heard of the Frog Prince?" he asked, practically purring as he pulled the kitsune into his arms.

Reminded of the night before the tanuki had gotten his scar, the fox found his resistance melting away. One of Shigaraki's hands rested gently but firmly at the small of his back, and the other began snaking its way into the hair at the nape of his neck. Kokkuri found himself leaning forward again despite himself. He could swear he felt the other spirit's heartbeat as their chests pressed closer together. _"If it gets you what you want,"_ a small voice at the back of his head whispered, _"what does it matter if he's only after your female form?"_

He could feel Shigaraki's warm breath on his lips as though asking for permission one last time to close the gap between them. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to lean forward just one more inch, but that little voice gave him pause. Was the tanuki really only interested in him now because he appeared to be a woman? He turned his head to one side, eyes closed. "There's got to be some other way," he whispered quietly.

Shigaraki's forehead dropped forward to rest against Kokkuri's temple, and a small puff of air escaped him, though the fox could not tell if it was a sigh or a humorless laugh. "Okay," came the quiet reply. His voice was tense as he tried to rein in emotions he had only barely been able to control in the first place. "We'll find something else." He released the kitsune abruptly and turned toward the door, trying to light a cigarette with trembling hands. He had been so close….

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><p><strong>AN, supplemental:** As you undoubtedly have noticed, I am continuing to use male pronouns for Kokkuri even though he is in a female form. My rationale for this is that he still identifies as male, despite his physical appearance. It wouldn't make sense to use female pronouns unless he identified as female while in that form.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope everyone is doing well. As ever, thanks for taking the time to read this story. c:

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><p>Still fumbling with the unlit cigarette, Shigaraki recalled his promise to swear off smoking. With a grimace, he broke the paper tube in half and watched the dry tobacco spill out as he flicked it to the ground. Without looking back at the others, he headed for the house. He had known better, really. He had known that Kokkuri would turn him down, but there had still been a small part of him that had hoped. And for a moment, he had almost believed. For a moment, it had almost seemed like the fox wanted the same thing he did. But that moment had vanished. Silent and alone, he entered the house, trying to figure out how he would drown these thoughts now that he had sworn off of alcohol and tobacco.<p>

Watching Shigaraki's retreating back, Kokkuri frowned. He had expected the tanuki to laugh this off the way he normally did. When that didn't happen, he wasn't sure how to react. Inugami, for his part, trotted after the old man, the dropped sake bottle held over his head. Kohina and the fox followed after them. The rest of the evening passed almost normally, except that Shigaraki did not emerge for dinner. Kokkuri did his best to ignore the nagging feeling that something was wrong, and instead focused his attention on breaking the curse. He had no intention of spending the rest of his life in a female form.

Shigaraki kept to himself for the next few days, doing his utmost to resist the temptation of alcohol. Eventually, though, his old habits got the better of him, and in the wee hours of the morning, he reached for his sake. He hadn't quite woken up yet, and his eyes were not entirely open as his fingers curled around the bottle. Taking a drink, he winced at the harsh burn of the liquid. Having been cleaning the tanuki's room as he slept, Kokkuri noticed the movement and turned to face the old man.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he asked sharply. "I was cleaning with that!"

"Eh? Cleaning with this? But this is my…." He lifted the bottle close to his eyes and squinted at the label. "My… disinfectant? Oh. That's not what I meant to be drinking…." He hiccupped quietly and set the bottle back down on the floor.

Kokkuri made a disapproving noise and picked up the bottle of disinfectant. "I thought you said you weren't going to drink at all anymore…."

Grunting quietly, Shigaraki rolled over on his futon so he faced away from the kitsune. "Yeah, well… I haven't been feeling the best lately. And, as they say, old habits…."

"Drinking is not a good way to deal with your problems…" Kokkuri said quietly, his lips curving into a frown and his golden eyes darkening with concern. "Do you… want to talk about it?"

A cloud of smoke enveloped the tanuki. He emerged a moment later in his animal form, his emotions hidden behind his Cheshire cat grin. "There's nothing to talk about, kitsune. We should be working on finding a way to fix that curse of yours."

The fox opened his mouth to argue, but Kohina and Inugami burst into the room carrying a paper scroll.

"Kokkuri-san," the girl said, holding out the paper. "I found this in the storehouse. It looks like it might be a clue about your curse, but it can only be opened by those who have been cursed."

"Great! Good job, Kohina!" Kokkuri exclaimed, snatching the scroll from the girl's hand. "Now, with this I should be able to go back to…." His eyes scanned over the words written on the paper, and he paled visibly. "You've got to be kidding me…" he breathed, his hands starting to shake.

Noting the change in Kokkuri's mood, Shigaraki took a step closer and tried to peer up at the paper. "Huh? What does it say?"

"Did you learn anything useful?" Kohina asked.

With a humorless laugh, the kitsune tossed the scroll into the air. Blue fire lanced up over the paper, turning it to cinders. Then, ignoring the questions of the others in the room, he stood and walked away, a despondent expression on his face.

Frowning as much as he could in his animal form, Shigaraki tried to piece together the charred remains of the scroll. It was hard to tell which pieces went where, and sometimes ash obscured the writing, but eventually he arranged it in a way that seemed to make sense.

_Give up. You'll be that way for the rest of your life._

His heart catching in his throat, the tanuki stared in disbelief at the words. _"That… that can't be right… can it?"_ he thought. _"I'll just… I'll go ask what it actually said."_ Certain that there was some mistake with his reassembly of the scroll, he hurried down the hall after Kokkuri. When he found the fox, he was securing a rope to a hook on the ceiling. For a moment, Shigaraki simply stood in the doorway, bemused. When Kokkuri began tying a hangman's knot at the end of the rope, however, his world stopped. He rushed forward, a cloud of gold smoke surrounding him as he returned to his human form.

"I guess I'll just kill myself," the fox was saying as he stepped onto the chair and pulled the noose closer. Suddenly, strong arms enveloped him and pulled him back down to the floor. His grip slipped from the rope in his surprise.

"K-kitsune," Shigaraki whispered, panic evident in his voice. "What do you think you're doing?"

Kokkuri tensed, preparing to break out of the tanuki's grasp, and opened his mouth to speak. He stilled, however, when he felt the trembling of those arms. The realization hit him like a freight train. The old man was shaking, though Kokkuri didn't know whether it was due to adrenaline or fear. "I… I just don't want to live like this forever," he said at length. "I don't want to be a woman."

Shigaraki's grip tightened, and he pulled the kitsune closer into his chest. Closing his eyes, he leaned down so that his chin was nearly resting on Kokkuri's shoulder. "Don't worry, this old man will think of something. Just give me a chance." His voice was low, hushed, and the sound of it made the fox shiver. The tanuki inhaled deeply and released the air in a shuddering breath. "Please," he whispered, "don't scare me like that again."

For a moment, they just stood like that in silence, neither wanting to break whatever magic had settled over the room. When the sound of footsteps rang from the hallway, however, Shigaraki loosened his grip and took a step back. Kokkuri took the opportunity to turn and face the tanuki, still encircled lightly by his arms. He searched the taller spirit's expression for answers to any of the questions flying around his head, but as ever, he was nearly impossible to read.

"Shigaraki," the fox said quietly. He raised a feminine hand to rest on the old man's chest, but the tanuki flinched backward, pulling his hat forward to shadow his eyes.

"Later," he murmured in reply, not meeting the kitsune's gaze. A moment later, he had returned to his animal form and begun walking from the room.

Kokkuri watched him leave, frowning. Lately, it seemed like he had been seeing a lot of the tanuki's back. There was a tension between them now that hadn't been there before, and it seemed to be pushing them around and away from each other like two magnets facing each other's matching poles. Even so, that one word hadn't been spoken as a dismissal. It had been a promise to pick up the conversation another time, perhaps after they had both had time to clear their heads. With that in mind, the fox decided to take a bath.

That evening and the next few days passed relatively normally, though Shigaraki continued to make himself scarce around the Ichimatsu house. Even during the day, when Kokkuri could normally find him loafing on the porch, he was nowhere to be found. Kohina and Inugami were not overly troubled by his absence, though, so the fox did his best to continue acting like nothing was wrong.

During his days away from the house, the tanuki spent hours on end in the local library poring over dozens of books on curses and their cures. He couldn't stand to see the kitsune so miserable, and was determined to do anything within his power to return things to normal. After a few days of continuous research, he finally stumbled upon something with potential. According to a book he had found (an old book, admittedly), there was a hot spring in a town to the north that had the ability to cure curses. There were a number of inns in the town where travelers could stay while visiting the springs. It was perfect. All he had to do was get a couple of tickets. Looking in his wallet, he frowned. First, he would need to get money to cover the tickets. And food. His frown deepened. And bus fare. He sighed. And additional tickets for Kohina and Inugami, because Kokkuri was unlikely to agree to a trip with just the two of them. Writing down the name of the town, he put the book away and headed for the nearest pachinko parlor. This was going to take a while.

A few days later, Kokkuri was sitting on the porch doing some mending when Shigaraki burst through the gate, evidently in high spirits.

"Hey, kitsune!" he called, jogging over to him. "I just won some tickets for a trip to the hot springs!" He pulled the tickets from the sleeve of his kimono and hoped that Kokkuri would buy the fib. He had been working on the excuse all morning, but he figured the fox would have little trouble believing he had been gambling. More than likely, the truth of the matter would have been much harder for him to believe.

"Oh, great!" Kokkuri replied, returning the tanuki's infectious smile. "I love hot springs!"

"So, would you like to go with me, then?" Shigaraki tried to keep his tone relaxed, but it was difficult to keep the excitement and hope from his voice. "We could leave now, stay overnight, and then come home tomorrow."

"Sure!"

The tanuki couldn't believe his ears, and was at a loss for words. Not wanting to ruin what the stars had apparently just aligned to accomplish, he simply smiled and headed to his room to begin packing. As he went, he couldn't help but hum a happy tune.

"They're going on a date," Kohina whispered to Inugami as they peered around the door at the fox spirit. Kokkuri immediately stopped what he was doing to look over at them.

"Definitely a date," Inugami agreed, hopping down from Kohina's shoulder. "And they're staying overnight." He waggled his canine eyebrows suggestively.

Setting aside his mending for the moment, Kokkuri frowned at the girl and the dog ghost. "You really think so? I guess… it just seemed so natural to accept, since we used to do stuff like that together years ago, with groups of friends."

"Oh," Kohina replied. "Well, maybe he just meant it that way, then."

"He might have, right? I mean, it could just be a completely normal outing… not anything… serious."

"Though, he did spend all of his money on those tickets."

The kitsune hung his head in defeat. "So it's definitely a date, then." He looked up at Kohina and Inugami again, only to see them looking back, trying to gauge his reaction. The dog, especially, seemed interested in his handling of this situation. "I'll… I'll just go talk to him." Standing with a sigh, he headed over to Shigaraki's room. The tanuki had reverted to his animal form again, and was busy packing a suitcase, humming quietly to himself. Kokkuri paused, unsure he wanted to interrupt the happiness that flowed from that room.

"Say, Shigaraki," he said at length, leaning around the frame of the door.

"Hmm?"

"If… if this is a, a date… I'm not sure I can…"

"It's not a date."

The matter-of-fact response sent a curious mix of relief and disappointment swirling through Kokkuri's head. "R-really?"

The tanuki turned to face him. "Will saying that convince you to come along?"

Sighing in exasperation, Kokkuri set his hands on his hips. "Just tell me – is it a date, or isn't it?"

Shigaraki turned from his packing, returning to his human form as he walked from the room. "Look, I'm not going to force you to come, if you don't want to, but you have to make the final decision yourself."

Not waiting for the kitsune's response, the tanuki walked down the hall toward Inugami and Kohina. He had anticipated Kokkuri's hesitation. He just hoped that this next gamble paid off. "Well, the fox isn't coming," he said as he walked into the room. "Would you two like to come to the hot springs with me?" As the little girl and the dog began discussing the things they would do in the resort town, Shigaraki listened for Kokkuri's steps in the hall, smiling to himself when he heard them pause at the door. "It's a shame, too," he said with a sigh. "That town was rumored to have a special spring just for curing curses."

"Is that true?" Kokkuri asked, running into the room.

"Well," Shigaraki replied, turning to face the kitsune with an amused look on his face, "I don't know if the rumors are true, but there _are_ rumors. Would you like to find out for yourself?" He held up a fourth ticket.

"Yes!" the fox exclaimed, snatching the ticket from the old man's hand. "I mean… it would be a shame to let this… this opportunity go to waste…." He rubbed his foot self-consciously against the floor. "Besides, I've… I've already packed, so we can just go whenever."

Shigaraki laughed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, all right, then. Sounds like we'd better get this show on the road."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the long delay in getting this chapter posted. I intended to work on this while I was on vacation a few weeks ago, but vacation ended up being cancelled when my car broke down on the way out. The car situation has been resolved, but since then I've been generally short on time. Thanks for being patient with me! OTL

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><p>Walking down the quiet street of the resort town, Shigaraki smiled. He was more relaxed than he had been in a long time, though he still wasn't quite sure how that cat god had managed to force her way into their little group. Either way, things seemed like they were finally starting to fall into place. Kokkuri also seemed to be enjoying the trip, and he smiled as he looked around the town.<p>

"This is it, eh? I like how subdued it is."

"It certainly has character, doesn't it?" the tanuki replied, his smile growing wider.

The dog and cat didn't seem to be enjoying themselves quite as much, but… if Shigaraki was honest with himself, this trip wasn't really about them. He would have been just as happy if the kitsune had agreed to take a trip just with him. Nevertheless, it would be nice to have a change of pace, even if just for the evening. And, with any luck, the spring would release Kokkuri from his curse.

As though picking up on his thoughts, the fox spoke again. "So, where is this legendary spring that will remove this curse?"

The old man's smile softened. "Have a little patience, now, kitsune. We just got here, and are still dragging our luggage around with us. Surely you can wait a little longer while we check in?"

Kokkuri sighed, his face falling very slightly. "Yeah, I suppose…." He brightened again, determined not to bring down the mood of the group. "All right, then, let's go to the inn!"

A short while later, they had checked into the inn and were settling into their room. Tama suggested that they all check out the inn's hot spring, and Kokkuri perked up at the idea. "Shigaraki," he said, looking over at the tanuki, "is it this inn's hot springs that remove curses?"

"No," the old man replied, taking a sip of tea, "these are just normal hot springs. They're good for the skin, sore muscles, that kind of thing."

The kitsune's ear twitched, and he stalked over to Shigaraki. Grabbing the tanuki roughly by the collar, he growled, "What do you mean? Where is it, then?"

"Calm down," he sighed, trying to free himself from the fox's grasp. "It's rumored to be somewhere in this town. We can go look for it after dinner."

"What? After dinner? But that's…." Kokkuri was interrupted by a loud growl from Kohina's stomach. Sighing, he released the fabric of Shigaraki's kimono. "Fine, but we _are_ going to look for it after dinner. No more excuses."

The tanuki smiled reassuringly. "Of course." He stretched his tired shoulders. "Now, there's still a little bit of time before dinner. Why don't you go take a bath with the girls? These springs may not cure curses, but I imagine they're still quite relaxing."

The kitsune sighed. "Oh, all right. Just don't forget, we're looking for that other one after dinner…."

Kohina and the various animal spirits made their way to the inn's hot springs, the girls going to the women's bath, and Shigaraki going alone to the men's bath. As he sank into the soothing water, he couldn't help but wonder if the kitsune was really all right with this. Concerned that the rather intimate nature of the bath might make the fox uncomfortable, the old tanuki found himself inching toward the springs' dividing wall so he could eavesdrop on their conversation.

At first, the topics of conversation were fairly mundane – enjoying the spring, keeping Inugami from corrupting Kohina, nothing terribly out of the ordinary. Just as Shigaraki was beginning to relax himself, the subject changed to Kokkuri's feminine figure. Soon, it became clear that talking wasn't all Tama was doing, and the distressed tone of the kitsune's voice was easy to hear, even through the wall. Immediately, Shigaraki found himself pressed against the wood, trying to find a way to see what they were doing.

Eventually, unable to see what was happening and unable to stand the discomfort in Kokkuri's voice, the tanuki scaled the wall. When he reached the top, he was oddly relieved, though confused, to see that they were all wearing swimming suits. Despite, that, though, Tama and Inugami had the kitsune in what could only be referred to as a compromising position.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, his voice coming out as more of a growl than he intended. He coughed quietly. "And… uh…. Why are you wearing bikinis?"

"It's a countermeasure against peeping tanuki perverts," Kokkuri said, the smug look on his face indicating that he had expected Shigaraki to look in like this. Before the old man had a chance to defend himself, a sturdy wooden tub collided with his face. "Stop peeping into the women's baths!" the kitsune shouted.

Shigaraki tried to explain, but any time he started to speak, another heavy object flew his way. When Tama started flinging knives, he decided to cut his losses and retreat back to the men's side. It appeared that Kokkuri could defend himself just fine when he felt like it. Of course, that line of thought brought its own set of questions. _If he had no trouble defending himself, why didn't he fight off the girls when they made him uncomfortable? Maybe… he didn't actually mind having their hands all over him…._ Frowning, the tanuki decided he had had enough of the bath, and returned to the room. Sitting alone on the patio, he allowed himself to enjoy a cigarette while no one was looking. By the time the others returned, dinner had arrived.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, Kokkuri stood up again. "All right, time to find that legendary spring!" He looked around at the others on the floor, all of whom seemed to have collapsed into food comas. When no one moved, his ear twitched slightly and he growled under his breath, "Fine. I'll go by myself."

Shigaraki waited for the kitsune to leave. He knew Kokkuri never would have agreed to look for the spring with no one but him for company, and he probably would have decided to go alone anyway. This was just easier. Once the fox was out of sight, he stood and looked around at the other occupants of the room. "I'm going outside for a smoke," he said before leaving the inn himself.

Following from a safe distance, the tanuki enjoyed simply watching Kokkuri take in the scenery. Out on his own in an unfamiliar town, with the prospect of removing the curse on his mind, he seemed very much at ease. As the first few flakes of snow began to filter through the air, Shigaraki paused at a shop to purchase an umbrella before continuing along the road behind the fox. A few minutes later, when Kokkuri stopped beside the railing on a bridge, he saw his opportunity to reveal himself. Changing to his animal form, he hopped onto the railing and held the umbrella over the kitsune's head.

"Do you know where that curse-removing spring is?" he asked as Kokkuri turned to face him.

The shorter spirit opened his mouth to reply, but then, realizing that he actually didn't know, closed it again.

"Well, come on, then," Shigaraki continued, hopping from the railing and resuming his human form. "There are apparently a few places that could be it."

They started walking, and the tanuki allowed Kokkuri to set the pace. After all, his stride was naturally longer than the kitsune's, and he didn't want to force the already distraught fox to walk at an uncomfortable speed. After a few minutes, he glanced over at his companion only to find him frowning.

"What's wrong?"

"What's _wrong_?" Kokkuri hissed under his breath. He stopped in front of the taller spirit and looked up at him, eyes blazing. "You're matching your stride to mine! Why do you keep treating me like a woman? You know I'm not…"

"Kitsune," Shigaraki interrupted, not allowing the tirade to continue. "I'm not treating you like a woman. I'm treating you like someone I respect and enjoy spending time with." He paused and massaged the bridge of his nose with one hand. "Look, my normal walking speed is faster than yours because my legs are longer. That's been the case for as long as I've known you. When we walk together, I let you dictate the speed because it would be rude of me to expect you to make yourself uncomfortable just to keep up."

Kokkuri opened his mouth to reply, but as the words sank in, he found he had no response for that. Looking away, he closed his mouth again.

Out of the corner of his eye, the tanuki noticed a car fast approaching. Kokkuri had unwittingly stopped in the street. Now that he was looking away, he likely did not see the oncoming vehicle. "Kitsune," he said gently, "we should probably get going."

"Okay, just… just don't treat me like a woman," the fox replied, eyes still downcast.

The car was practically on them, and Shigaraki knew he had to do something. Reaching out, he grabbed Kokkuri's wrist and pulled him close against his chest as the car whizzed by. "Wouldn't dream of it," he replied, resting his chin on the kitsune's head. The near miss shook the fox's confidence, and he spent a moment enfolded in the tanuki's warm embrace. Then, remembering where he was, he leapt back, cheeks burning.

"L-let's just… let's keep going. I came here to find that spring, after all…." He turned to continue down the road, not meeting Shigaraki's gaze.

Eventually, they came to a winding path that led up into the nearby hills. Every once in a while, another path split off from the main trail to lead to hidden springs. None of the hidden springs seemed to be quite what they were looking for, though, and Kokkuri began to get disheartened. Not willing to admit defeat, he continued stubbornly along the trail with Shigaraki at his side. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of walking, they found a sign for the legendary secret bath. Practically squealing with relief, Kokkuri hurried ahead to test the water. With a sigh, Shigaraki sat on the step of the bath house.

"_Well, this is it,"_ he thought with a sigh. _"As much as he has complained about being treated like a woman these past few days, he hasn't been refusing my attention as much…. Once he's freed from the curse, though, everything will be back to how it was."_ A few moments later, he was surprised to hear Kokkuri cry out in frustration, and even more surprised to see him emerge from the bath house in his female form.

"What happened?" he asked, his brow furrowing in confusion. "Didn't you use the spring?"

"Tch. There was a sign…" the kitsune growled through gritted teeth. "_Apparently_, the spring doesn't work on… on _older_ women." His ear twitched in irritation. Turning back to the door of the bath house, he shouted, "I'm not old!"

Shigaraki rested his hand on the fox's shoulder and began steering him back toward the path. "Well, it's getting late. Let's go back to town. Taking more time to enjoy this vacation may help keep your mind from less pleasant things."

"I suppose you're probably right," Kokkuri replied, deflating slightly. As they walked down the hill, he unconsciously inched closer to the tanuki, until eventually he was nestled under the taller spirit's arm. By the time he noticed their closeness, they were emerging from the woods. "Wh-what are you doing, old man?" he asked, stiffening slightly.

"Eh? What am I…? But, I thought…." Shigaraki sighed. "Nevermind," he said, retracting his arm. Keeping his gaze straight ahead, he took a step to the side to leave space between them.

"Well, whatever…. Do you really think there's no hope of me turning back?"

"No, I don't think that," the tanuki replied quietly, folding his arms up into his sleeves. "We'll find a way."

The sincerity in Shigaraki's voice surprised Kokkuri, and he opened his mouth to reply. Just then, a light off to the side of the road caught his attention. It was a shooting gallery, and if the light was any indication, it was still open. "Oh hey, this brings back memories."

"Want to give it a try?"

"Sure!"

The man behind the counter handed a pellet gun to Shigaraki, and he tossed it to the kitsune. "Here, this might make you feel better."

Kokkuri lined up to take a shot, but found that the female form was making it difficult. He was used to being taller, and there were certain aspects of this shape that made it inconvenient to rest the rifle butt comfortably against his shoulder. Nevertheless, he thought he had a reasonable line on one of the figures on the shelf, and took the shot. He missed. Growling, he took several more shots in quick succession, not giving himself time to aim properly. Unsurprisingly, they all also missed.

"Here, I used to run a shooting gallery myself," Shigaraki said, suddenly just behind the fox's shoulder. "Let me help." A moment later, Kokkuri felt the tanuki step closer, his chest molding perfectly into the kitsune's back. Strong arms stretched over his own, correcting his grip. "Like this. Now, stand up straight, and balance over your feet. Take a deep breath. Relax."

Kokkuri did as he was told, and tried to ignore the warmth that was beginning to spread through his body. He also tried to ignore the butterflies that had started dancing a jig in his stomach when Shigaraki had covered the fox's hands with his own. More than anything, though, he tried to ignore how perfectly he fit within the circle of the tanuki's arms every time he took a breath.

Closing his eyes, he let out his breath slowly, almost meditatively. Opening them again before taking his next breath, he pulled the trigger. A figure toppled off the shelf. Repeating the slow, relaxed inhalation and exhalation, he took another shot. Another figure fell. Another breath, another shot, another figure down, until the gun ran out of ammunition.

"There, see? Nothing to it," Shigaraki said, taking a step back as the shooting gallery owner presented Kokkuri with his winnings. "You're a natural."

As soon as it was gone, Kokkuri missed Shigaraki's warmth against his back. Gathering up his things, he walked with the tanuki out of the shooting gallery. As they walked back along the road to the inn, the bags became increasingly hard to carry, but the kitsune refused to admit that he needed help. He knew the old man would be happy to lend a hand, but he worried that asking for help would equate to admitting weakness. Eventually, though, Shigaraki noticed he was struggling and reached for a couple of bags.

"Those look heavy, let me help carry them back to our room."

"No!" Kokkuri replied more forcefully than he intended, snatching the bags away and hurrying up the road. "I mean… I can carry them myself."

Shigaraki sighed, but let the kitsune keep carrying the bags. They continued toward the inn, but Kokkuri paused to catch his breath in a pool of light from a streetlamp. They had reached a small scenic overlook with a few benches and a wrought iron fence. In the wintery twilight, Kokkuri had to admit it was actually fairly romantic.

"Are you sure I can't help you with those?" Shigaraki pressed again, concern in his voice. He understood that Kokkuri wanted to do things for himself, but he didn't want him to hurt himself just to prove a point.

"I just don't like letting other people do things for me that I should be able to do for myself. Before I was cursed, I was able to carry bags of groceries home with no problem. This is not that different. I just… I'm afraid of losing who I am."

The tanuki shook his head, sighing at the kitsune's stubbornness. Suddenly, an idea came to him, and he smiled slightly. "You're a pain, do you know that?" he asked, not looking over at the other spirit. "Carry the bags by yourself if you want. Just don't be surprised if I do what I want, too."

"Eh? What does that m-?" His question was cut short as he was lifted from the ground. "Shigaraki!"

"You can carry your own burdens if you like. I won't stop you. But if you begin to collapse under the weight of those burdens, I'll help you stand. I'll carry you, too, if that's what it takes for you to move forward."

Kokkuri's jaw dropped in disbelief at the tanuki's earnest statement, and he felt that he was no longer just talking about the bags from the shooting gallery. He felt a familiar tightening in his chest, and curled his fingers into the fabric of the old man's kimono. "Shigaraki…."

"People are born alone and die alone, but there isn't a single person who can keep standing by themselves forever. You have to find the strength to ask for help when you need it. Things will work out with this curse of yours, too. I'm sure of it."

The kitsune bristled slightly at that last statement. "Things will work out? Don't just say that because it's not your problem!"

"Don't get me wrong," came the quiet reply. "I'm telling you that I'm making it my problem. I'll help you find a cure." He paused, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he continued. "Or, failing that, I could try to make you not mind this female form…."

"Huh? Wh-what does that…?"

Taking another steadying breath, Shigaraki adjusted his hold on Kokkuri to close the distance between them. These weren't the circumstances he had hoped for, but he found he couldn't resist any longer. He had waited far too long for this chance. His nervous heartbeat thundered in his ears as his lips descended toward the kitsune's. When they met at last, he felt his heart might explode. Suddenly, smoke enveloped them, and the weight in his arms changed.

"_What was that? Did he…?"_ Not daring to hope, he opened his eyes. Kokkuri, returned to his male form at last, looked back at him awkwardly. When Shigaraki's grip did not loosen, he coughed quietly.

"Um. Shigaraki? The c-curse… is broken. I'm a man again."

"That's the best news I've heard all day," the tanuki replied, his voice more full of emotion than Kokkuri had ever heard. Their lips met again, and after a moment's hesitation, Shigaraki poured out all of his emotion through that connection, pulling the kitsune still closer.

The click of a camera shutter was the first indication they received that they were not alone. Opening his eyes and drawing back slightly, Kokkuri noticed Inugami watching them from some distance away, a broad grin on his face. Suddenly embarrassed, he turned to his animal form to hide his blush and leapt from Shigaraki's arms. The tanuki, although not terribly concerned by the paparazzo, also resumed his animal form. For the first time, his characteristically broad grin was entirely genuine.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note:** Well, here is where we begin to drift apart from the plot of the anime. I may still bring in elements from the later episodes, but I won't be following the storyline as closely. Thanks again to everyone for reading and reviewing!

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><p>The walk back to the inn was conducted in awkward silence. Kokkuri, even though he had returned to his male form, had allowed Shigaraki to help carry the bags of prizes from the shooting gallery, but he seemed to be doing everything in his power to avoid the tanuki's gaze. His cheeks still burned red with embarrassment. It wasn't as though he hadn't enjoyed it, as much as he tried to convince himself otherwise. As far as he could tell, he was mostly mortified that Inugami had caught them in such a private moment, and that he had gone so far as to take a picture. The thought of the dog showing that picture to Kohina concerned him more than he liked to admit.<p>

"Well, I'm going to go spend some more quality time in the hot spring," Shigaraki announced abruptly as they entered their room at the inn. He set down the bags and moved to find his bathing supplies.

Kokkuri frowned as he looked at the darkness outside. "Isn't it a bit late for that?"

The tanuki shrugged. "It seems that cat girl is still out there, so I may as well take some time to enjoy myself. Listening to the two of them molest you earlier wasn't exactly relaxing." He couldn't keep the slight growl from his voice as he remembered the incident. "Though I guess maybe I was overreacting. You didn't appear to mind the attention as much as it sounded like you did through the wall." Without waiting for the fox to respond, he gathered his things and headed for the bath.

As the door snapped shut behind Shigaraki, the meaning behind the old man's words finally sank in for Kokkuri. He sank to the ground beside the bags of prizes, letting his mind mull over everything that had happened that day. The tanuki had come home with tickets for the hot springs, and had told him that he'd won them. _"Probably because he knew you wouldn't have believed that he'd bought them,"_ a voice in his head supplied helpfully. _"And because you wouldn't have gone if he'd just come out and asked you on a date. Because you're an idiot. An idiot in denial."_ He massaged the bridge of his nose as his subconscious continued to berate him. _"You're only kidding yourself if you think it was a coincidence that he bought tickets to an inn in a town known to have a curse-curing spring. All those days he was gone, he had to have been looking for a way to help you."_

"But where would he have gotten the money to afford the tickets?" he mused aloud. "I don't give him that much for an allowance…."

"_You know the answer to that, too,"_ his thoughts snarked back at him. _"He used whatever he'd saved up from whatever it is that he does. And what he didn't have saved, he probably earned by spending endless hours at a pachinko parlor. For you. He wanted it to be a private affair between just the two of you, but when you chickened out of that, he invited the others along. He knew it meant he wouldn't get to spend time alone with you, but it would still get you to where you needed to be to rid yourself of the curse."_

Kokkuri felt a sharp pang in his chest as he remembered Shigaraki inviting him on the trip to the hot springs. The tanuki had been so happy he had accepted the offer that he had started humming while he packed. And then that carefree happiness had dissipated like a morning fog as soon as the kitsune had started backing out on the offer again, afraid of going on a date with the other spirit. "I really am an idiot for not seeing this before…" he sighed, face falling.

"_Indeed you are,"_ his subconscious said, smirking at him. _"But wait, there's more! Don't forget what he said just now. When you were all in the baths together earlier, the other girls practically attacked you, touching you inappropriately because 'we're all girls here, so it's okay.' No matter how much you told them to stop, you were ignored. But when you sounded genuinely distressed, there he was, concern painted across his face. And you… what did you do, again?"_ His own mind was laughing at him now. He buried his face in his hands, remembering.

"I… I hit him in the face with a frying pan."

"_Oh yes, that's right. And a wooden tub, and anything else that came to hand, until he left you alone. So, now that we all understand just what a big jerk you are, let's remember how the rest of the evening went. Shigaraki came to find you and help you track down the legendary spring. When the spring spited you, he comforted you and tried to help you feel good about yourself. When you struggled, __**he carried you**__. And when he was no longer able to hide his own feelings in order to give you space to figure out yours, he kissed you. And you liked it."_

Kokkuri's fingers traveled to his lips as he remembered the sensation. "I did," he whispered so quietly he could barely hear it himself. "I liked it."

"_So, what are you doing still in the room? Shigaraki is out in the bath."_

Suddenly, the thought of sharing the men's bath with Shigaraki made a nervous blush rise to the kitsune's cheeks. Despite the odd fluttering in his stomach, he gathered his things and headed to the hot spring. _"I'm shaking. Why am I shaking?"_ he thought as he stood awkwardly beside the door from the bath house out to the spring itself. _"I've been to hot springs plenty of times with Shigaraki. There's nothing strange about this."_ He took a deep breath to steady himself, and the little voice lurking in his subconscious took the opportunity to laugh at him again. _"Those other times, you hadn't been concerned with the way water droplets glittered in his hair, or traced the curves of his muscles as they rolled over his skin." _Kokkuri wrestled those wayward thoughts to a dark corner of his mind and tried to fight the blush that was once again burning his cheeks. Before anything else could stop him, he strode out to the spring.

The old tanuki was leaning against the side of the pool, with his arms spread wide on either side of him, and his head leaning back against one of the stones around the edge. His eyes were closed, and he gave no indication of having noticed that he was no longer alone in the bath. As Kokkuri approached the water, he had to admit that Shigaraki's position gave him quite an interesting view of his bare chest, flushed slightly with the heat of the water. His subconscious was quick to point out that there _were_, in fact, droplets of water tracing the curves of his muscles. There was a particularly interesting drop that was sliding slowly along the line of the tanuki's exposed throat, inching its way downward before pooling just above his collarbone. The kitsune wondered briefly what that particular expanse of skin tasted like, but he immediately shoved that thought aside, as well.

"Are you going to join me, or just stand there turning increasingly interesting shades of red?" Kokkuri started out of his thoughts as Shigaraki's deep voice reached him across the bath. The old man had one eye open, and was watching him with a slight smirk curling the corner of his lips. "I'd promise that I don't bite, but that's not exactly true. I _can_, however, promise that I won't bite unless you ask me to." The tanuki's open eye glittered mischievously, and Kokkuri could see the points of his fangs in his devilish grin. "Good enough?"

"Sh-Shigaraki!" the kitsune hissed, his face flushing again at the old man's words. He clutched at his towel defensively, but moved toward the side of the pool anyway. As he was stepping into the naturally heated water, Shigaraki leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees under the water.

"You know, kitsune," the tanuki said quietly, amusement crinkling the corners of his eyes, "the curse is broken. You don't have to wear your towel like a lady anymore."

Kokkuri glanced self-consciously down at the towel that covered him from mid-thigh to just under his arms. "This is how I always wear towels when I bathe," he replied, trying and failing to keep the pout from his voice. After stepping into the water, the fox moved to a slightly deeper part of the hot spring to sit with water up to his shoulders. As he closed his eyes in relaxation, he heard Shigaraki move, and felt the slight ripples he made in the water. It wasn't until the tanuki spoke, though, that he realized he had moved to sit next to him.

"But covering up this way," the old man said quietly, "makes it look like you're embarrassed or even ashamed about something." As though working with a mind all its own, one of the tanuki's hands reached out to play with a loose strand of Kokkuri's long silver hair. Startled, the kitsune looked at him with wide eyes, but made no move to reclaim his hair. "I've been thinking," Shigaraki continued at length, still seeming to pay no attention to the fingers that were now entwined with the silver strands, "but I can't figure out what in the world you would have to be ashamed of."

Kokkuri shivered slightly at the gentle tugging on his hair, and struggled to piece together a coherent thought. "I-I should apologize," he said, latching onto the first complete sentence he could find.

"Hmm? What for?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but found he couldn't think of the answer himself. His subconscious tapped its foot impatiently at him. _"For hitting you in the face with a…"_ it supplied helpfully. "Oh! Uh, for… for throwing that frying pan at you earlier…." He wrung his fingers together under the water. "I mean… you were just trying to defend me, and all…."

Shigaraki chuckled quietly, a soft sound that reverberated in his chest. "Don't worry about it. I've had worse." His smile flagged slightly. "And anyway, I'm probably the one who should apologize. I was a bit… er… _forward_ earlier."

"No, that was," Kokkuri blurted out before his brain caught back up with his tongue. He paused and started over. "That is, you _were_, but I… it…." He looked away, flushing a shade of red that had nothing to do with the heat of the water. "What I mean to say is that there is nothing to apologize for," he said at length, the words so quiet and rushed it was hard to make them out.

Kokkuri glanced nervously up at Shigaraki. The tanuki was looking at him with an inscrutable expression in his eyes. After a moment of continued silence, the kitsune began to look away. As he turned, Shigaraki reached up to place a gentle finger under his chin and pull him back. "So, if I was to press my luck again," the tanuki began at length, his moss-colored eyes looking searchingly into Kokkuri's gold ones.

The fox opened his mouth to reply, but his throat had suddenly gone dry and no sound came out. Shigaraki was trying to keep his desires under control, but the sight of Kokkuri glistening with beads of condensed steam, lips slightly parted, offered more temptation than he could handle. "Kitsune," he whispered breathlessly as his fingers traced the line of the fox's jaw. Before he could stop himself, those same fingers buried themselves in the hair at the nape of Kokkuri's neck and pulled him forward to close the distance between them. The kitsune flushed prettily just before the tanuki captured his bottom lip between his own.

When they parted for air, Kokkuri noticed that his hands had somehow moved of their own accord, one of them tracing lines across Shigaraki's back, and the other running through the feathery ends of his hair. The tanuki's eyes had darkened slightly, and it looked like it was taking all of his willpower to keep from diving back in for another kiss.

"Say, Shigaraki," Kokkuri said at length, his fingers idly twirling a small tuft of the tanuki's hair.

"Hmm?" Distracted though he was, he tried to concentrate on the kitsune's words.

"You never did tell me how you got this…." The fingers that had been playing with Shigaraki's hair moved instead to gently trace the scar over his right eye. The tanuki closed his eyes and shivered slightly at the sensation. A rueful smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

"Still can't let that go, eh?"

Kokkuri drew back slightly. "Well, it's just…"

Shigaraki caught his hand before he could get too far. "It's just I promised the little lady I wouldn't tell you," he interrupted.

"Eh? Kohina? What could she have to do with something like that?"

The tanuki sighed and released Kokkuri, running a hand through his own hair as he wrestled with his thoughts. "She made friends with that little flying cyclops thing, see…."

It took a moment, but eventually he remembered the little spirit the girl had bandaged up. "That thing? But I threw it out!"

Shigaraki nodded, his face falling slightly. He knew Kokkuri wouldn't like the next part of this story. "It came back. She started treating it like a pet, and asked me not to tell you." True to form, Kokkuri appeared ready to shout a response, but he stilled as Shigaraki continued. "I knew someone had to keep an eye on the thing, so that's why I spent so much time around her then. Things were going pretty well until that day she fell and scraped her knee. Do you remember how she said it had been licked clean?"

Kokkuri pursed his lips slightly, but nodded. "You said it was a stray cat."

"I did, but it wasn't. It was the little cyclops."

"It got a taste of her _blood_?"

Shigaraki winced at the horrified expression on Kokkuri's face. Slowly, he nodded. "I knew I couldn't leave it alone, then. So, after everyone went to sleep that night, I kept watch in her room. When it came to attack her, I dispatched it. With its last breath, it cursed me for the trouble." He sighed heavily, looking down at his hands. After another long moment of silence, he added, "So, now you know."

When Kokkuri didn't reply, Shigaraki stood and began walking back to the bath house. "W-wait, Shigaraki!" Kokkuri called as the tanuki moved to step from the water. He stopped, but did not turn around. The kitsune moved up beside the taller spirit, his eyes meandering over the colorful dragon tattoo that spread across his shoulder blades. "What happened to keep Kohina from seeing those spirits after that night?" he asked, resting his hand on the old man's arm.

Shigaraki turned to face him, another unreadable look in his eyes. "I couldn't bear to make her sad when she found out I'd destroyed her little friend. So, I… I made it so she couldn't see any of them anymore. So she wouldn't know."

"Shigaraki…." Whatever Kokkuri had been expecting, it wasn't that. A moment later, the tanuki's melancholic expression was replaced with his usual Cheshire Cat smile, something the kitsune was beginning to recognize as a sign that he was closing off his true feelings. Thinking back on how often he had seen that smile, he frowned.

"We should get back to the room before the others start to wonder where we are," Shigaraki said as he stepped from the water. Turning, he offered Kokkuri a hand, his smiling mask still in place. Once they both were standing on dry ground again, though, he pulled him close, wrapping his arms around the kitsune's slight frame. Leaning down, he whispered in his ear, "After all, the last thing we need is for Inugami to come looking for us." Lowering his head further, he let his lips brush Kokkuri's neck, his warm breath causing him to shiver. "He'd probably bring that camera with him, trying to catch us in a compromising position."

"Y-you're probably right," Kokkuri said, drawing back slightly. He didn't really want to head back, but he also didn't need the dog spirit to have any more blackmail material on him.

With a sigh that was equal parts resignation and contentment, Shigaraki loosened his hold on the fox. When they returned to their rooms, the others were all asleep. Lying down on their separate futons, they fell asleep, both wishing the brief vacation did not need to end so soon.


End file.
